Got the world in her strings

Young Chang

Breaking a string is nothing unusual for violinist Regina Carter. But

there was that one incident.

A couple months ago, at a performance venue she can’t specifically

recall, a string popped and the peg that held it flew across the stage. A

teacher from her youth had always told her that if a string snaps, she

should just keep playing the ones she had left.

So she did. After the number, Carter knelt on stage to search for the

missing peg. The percussionist spotted it.

“The audience probably thought I had lost my contacts,” Carter

laughed.

It’s surprising that they don’t snap more often -- enduring her

passionate, almost aggressive and furious performance style. Carter, 33,

can’t help it. The emotions that travel through her have to surge through

the instrument, she said.

“I just think, when you play music or you do something that you love,

that’s your passion already, and you can’t help but be passionate about

it,” Carter said.

The violinist, who plays everything from jazz to classical to pop and

funk, will perform at the Orange County Performing Arts Center today and

Saturday as part of the J.P. Morgan Jazz Club Series.

The Detroit native began training in classical music starting at the

age of four. She learned to play the violin using the Suzuki Method --

where you imitate someone playing rather than reading notes -- and now

mixes sounds and styles with an instrument that is not traditionally seen

as versatile.

Her percussionist comes from Cuba, her pianist from Germany and the

bassist plays outside gigs with an African group. Musical medleys, in

other words, aren’t hard to come by when it comes to Carter and her band.

“It just kinda happens,” she said.

Carter’s experience is just as varied. She studied music at the New

England Conservatory and Oakland University in Michigan. She was a member

of the Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra and performed on the bandstand,

learning from trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and organist Lymon Woodard.

She has performed with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Lauryn Hill,

Max Roach, Mary J. Blige, Billy Joel and Dolly Parton.

Her fourth CD release, “Motor City Moments,” is a tribute to her

hometown Detroit and its rich outpouring of musicians -- Belgrave,

pianist Barry Harris and saxophonist James Carter, to name a few.

“There’s a lot of music that comes out of Detroit,” she said. “A lot

of different cultures that live there [are] close together. There’s a

huge Latino community, Greek community, Arab community. Then you have the

symphony orchestra and a huge jazz scene.”

Jazz vocalist Carla Cook, a friend since high school and fellow

Detroit native, considers Carter an innovative musician who suffers no

shortage of musical ideas.

“Because she uses all of her music,” Cook said. “Any music that has

ever influenced her comes out in her music, so it makes it fresh and

alive.”

Carter was a featured soloist for a track on Cook’s recent

Grammy-nominated album, “It’s All About Love.”

While she has been called a jazz violinist, Carter said she thinks of

herself simply as a violinist who plays everything from country-western

to pop. She would never restrict herself to one musical genre.

“I think most people think of the instrument as just a classical

instrument, but if you listen to any kind of music, you can hear it in

everything,” she said.

FYI

WHAT: Regina Carter

WHEN: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. today and Saturday

WHERE: The Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center

Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $44 or $38

CALL: (714) 740-7878