On Saturday, Feb. 15, acclaimed multi-genre violinist and composer Regina Carter will perform at Kean University's Enlow Recital Hall. The event is being organized by Kean Stage, and begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are priced from $45 to $60.
The Kean community has a unique opportunity to witness an eclectic, exciting performance, as Carter's is one of the most distinctive voices in modern music. Talented at improvisation as well as composition, her output is reminiscent of styles spanning and predating the whole twentieth century, and beyond.
Though her music education was in classical and jazz - and many of her albums have been in those genres - it would be impossible to define Carter as one sort of musician or composer. Her influences stretch from the blues and country to Latin and African music, and that variety has lent itself to a storied and rich output. In her esteemed career, she has appeared on dozens of records, mostly of jazz and an assortment of contemporary work, including ten as the lead.
After studying classical violin at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music, then shifting her focus to jazz at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, Carter emerged in the 1980s with the pop-jazz quintet Straight Ahead. She later accompanied Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, and Lauryn Hill, just to name a few, and released her first solo collection, of many, in 1995.
Carter's latest - 2017's "Ella: Accentuate the Positive" - a "range of blues, soul, gospel and R&B" honors legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald, a lifelong inspiration for Carter. Jazziz calls the record, "diverse terrain...unified by a tangible sense of joy and reverence." AllMusic praises the tribute, but not without forgetting Carter's "compelling, distinctive" stylings.
Tickets for this acclaimed artist, a true American original, are sure to sell out quickly, and students and other members of the Kean community are encouraged not to wait on them.
Regina Carter's is the first in a series of rare, intimate performances Kean Stage will host at Enlow Recital Hall during the Spring semester - others include Mandy Harvey, Royal Wood, Jimmy Webb, and Norm Lewis.
For more information, visit the Kean Stage website. Tickets can be purchased online, in person at the box office, or via phone at (908) 737-7469.
