Regina Carter began taking piano lessons at the age of two but, as she grew, so did her need for broader expression. She eventually switched to violin, because it was more conducive to her creativity. At first she studied and played classical music … and as a teenager, played in the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. While still at school, she was able to take master classes from Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin. Regina was studying classical violin at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston when she decided to switch to jazz. She has become a master of improvisational jazz violin, though her work draws upon a wide range of musical influences, including Motown, Afro-Cuban, Swing, Bebop and Folk.
Reets and I is an uptempo tune featuring Carter with the Ray Brown Trio –– Ray on Bass, Larry Fuller at the piano, and George Fludas playing drums.
As with the video above, Lady Be Good is from Ray Brown’s 75th birthday concert in 2001. Again, we hear The Trio with, of course, Regina Carter swinging easily on violin.
