01	Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte						04:48
	02	Black Orpheus						05:22
	03	Pavane						05:24
	04	Oblivion						06:22
	05	Reverie						04:13
	06	Healing In Foreign Lands						03:09
	07	Apres Un Reve						05:02
	08	Alexandra						07:14
	09	Cinema Paradiso						06:32

Paganini: After a Dream
Date of Release Apr 22, 2003

It would be a definite exaggeration to say that jazz and classical have become joined at the hip the way that rap and urban contemporary have become joined at the hip, but it is safe to say that the jazz and classical worlds are crossing paths a lot these days. Many of today's jazz musicians are classically trained, and concert halls that are classical-friendly are often jazz-friendly (especially in Europe). Paganini: After a Dream is among the many instrumental projects that finds a jazz artist acknowledging the Euro-classical tradition, which isn't to say this is a classical album per se. Essentially, Paganini: After a Dream is post-bop, although it's post-bop with a strong Euro-classical influence and, at times, some Latin influences as well (including Argentinean tango, Brazilian samba, and the Cuban bolero tradition). This CD wasn't designed with musical purists in mind - Paganini: After a Dream isn't for jazz purists any more than it is for classical purists or Latin purists. But the more broad-minded listeners will appreciate the fact that violinist Regina Carter plays quite lyrically throughout the album whether she is turning her attention to Maurice Ravel's "Pavane Pour une Infante Defunte" and Claude Debussy's "Reverie" or Luiz Bonfo's "Manha de Carnaval" and Argentinean tango innovator Astor Piazzolla's "Oblivion." The people who join Carter on this disc include, among others, conductor Ettore Stratta (who serves as co-producer) and cellist Borislav Strulev - and thankfully, Carter manages to provide an album that is extremely lush without being elevator muzak. Because the material is heavily arranged, she doesn't have as much room to improvise. But the violinist does have enough solo space to get her points across, and even though Paganini: After a Dream isn't her most essential release, it is a tasteful, pleasing addition to Carter's catalog. - Alex Henderson


Ettore Stratta - Conductor, Producer
Jorge Calandrelli - Arranger, Orchestration
Greg Calbi - Mastering
Jeff Carney - Bass
Regina Carter - Violin, Arranger, Vocals, Liner Notes
Myra Casales - Percussion, Vocals
Robert Chausow - Violin
Joe Ferla - Engineer, Mixing
Werner Vana Gierig - Piano, Arranger, Producer, Executive Producer, Associate Producer, Musical Director
Joyce Hammann - Violin, Concert Master
Susan Jolles - Harp
Karen Milne - Violin
Carol Pool - Violin
Mary Rowell - Violin
Laura Seaton - Violin
Richard Seidel - A&R
Dorothy Lawson - Cello
Debra Shufelt - Viola
Michele Taylor - Executive Producer, Stylist
Maxine Roach - Viola
Mary Whitaker - Violin
Pat Philips - Producer
Yuri Vodovoz - Violin
Hollis King - Art Direction
Alvester Garnett - Drums, Vocals
Alberto Parodi - Assistant Engineer
Theodora Kuslan - Release Coordinator
Jason Stasium - Assistant Engineer
Michaela Angela Davis - Stylist
Ralph Farris - Viola
Marsha Black - Production Coordination
Andy Manganello - Assistant Engineer
Chris Lightcap - Bass
Rika Ichiki - Design
Patrick Woodward - Assistant Engineer
Kelly Pratt - Release Coordinator
Michelle Taylor - Producer
Andrea Liberovici - Producer, Executive Producer, Project Concept
Borislav Strulev - Cello

2003 CD Verve 065554



Regina Carter
Years Active
Genres Jazz
Styles Classical Crossover, Post-Bop

Violinist Regina Carter is a highly original soloist whose sophisticated technique and rich, lush tone took the jazz world by pleasant surprise when she arrived in New York from her native Detroit. And jazz fans weren't the only people who heard that mercurial quality in her playing: artists as diverse as Faith Evans, Elliot Sharp, and Mary J. Blige have employed her talents on their recordings, as has filmmaker Ken Burns on his soundtrack for The Civil War. Add this to an extremely long list of jazzers that include Tom Harrell, Wynton Marsalis, and Oliver Lake. Carter began playing her instrument at age four and attended Detroit's prestigious Cass Technical High School. Upon graduating, she departed for the new England Conservatory of Music, only to return to Michigan to join the all-female jazz quartet Straight Ahead. After two recordings for the Atlantic label, Carter left the band in 1994 in search of a solo career. She had already been doing session work in the city and sought to make the move permanent. Carter found herself working with Max Roach, the String Trio of New York, and the Uptown String Quartet before recording her self-titled debut recording on Atlantic in 1995. Its mixture of R&B, pop, and jazz confused jazz fans and delighted pop critics. It sold well enough for her to record Something for Grace, which leaned in the jazz direction, though it featured R&B sheen in its production. Carter left Atlantic for Verve in 1998 and recorded two more outings under her own name, the last of which, Motor City Moments, is her finest session. In 2001, Carter recorded a duet session with Kenny Barron, which has been universally acclaimed for its lyrical qualities and stunning range of dynamics and harmonic invention. - Thom Jurek

1995 Regina Carter Atlantic
1997 Something for Grace Atlantic
1998 Rhythms of the Heart Verve
2000 Motor City Moments Verve
2003 Paganini: After a Dream Verve


Regina Carter Violin, Vocal, Arranger
Werner "Vana" Gierig Piano, Arranger, Producer
Chris Lightcap Bass
Alvester Garnett (8) Drums, Vocal
Mayra Casales (8) Percussion, Vocal
Borislav Strulev (2, 7) Cello
Ettore Stratta (1, 4, 9) Conductor, Producer
Jorge Calandrelli (1-2, 4-5, 7, 9) Arranger
Pat Philips Producer
Andrea Liberovici Producer
Michelle Taylor Producer



Paganini: After a Dream is a landmark album from the acclaimed violinist Regina Carter. This recording-which features Carter and her band of Werner "Vana" Gierig, piano, Chris Lightcap, bass, Alvester Garnett, drums, and Mayra Casales, percussion-is the culmination of a fairy tale: a once-in-a lifetime encounter between a jazz musician from Detroit and the most famous violin in classical music, Paganini's Guarneri.

Perhaps the most legendary classical violinist in history, Nicolт Paganini, born in Genoa, Italy in 1782, had a technique so dazzling he was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil. When he died in 1840 he left his famous Guarneri violin, called "Il Cannone" or "The Cannon," to his beloved City of Genoa. Now it is kept in impeccable condition by the City of Genoa, and great violinists from around the globe make the pilgrimage there to play and record on it, but only under the watchful eyes of the conservators and two armed guards.

In December 2001, Carter, who had trained as a classical violinist but switched to jazz late in her high-school years, received an extraordinary invitation from the City of Genoa to perform on Paganini's violin. No jazz musician had ever laid hand on the violin, nor had any African-American. The idea of jazz being played on the precious instrument unleashed heated controversy in Genoa - until Carter held a press conference and charmed the Italian press by her gracious appreciation for the honor of playing the violin - and by speaking Italian! The press rallied around her, the concert sold out, and Carter received a standing ovation and became a heroine in Genoa.




Regina Carter

Last year violinist/bandleader Regina Carter made an indelible mark on the jazz world. In addition to displaying her brilliance and spunk as a performing artist by indefatigably touring the world, the perennial jazz violin poll winner was also roundly applauded for her debut Verve outing, Rhythms of the Heart. At the time of its release, the CD was praised by Time Magazine's Christopher John Farley, who wrote: ":Carter creates music that is wonderfully listenable, probingly intelligent and, at times, breathtakingly daring." A few months later the album was chosen as one of Time's top ten recordings of 1999.

For her follow-up, Motor City Moments-a celebration of the music of her hometown of Detroit-Carter once again demonstrates that she is one of today's most exciting and original jazz musicians. The album is her sophomore Verve release and fourth CD overall as a leader.

"There's so much music that came from Detroit and it all inspired me," says Carter, who came of age as a violinist through the classical, jazz and funk ranks of the city. She was a member of the Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra, performed with trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, gigged with pop/funk band Brainstorm and even played rock with a multi-ethnic group at a Chaldean cultural center. "From growing up with the pop tunes of Motown to taking lessons from Marcus, I was influenced by everything that Detroit offered. In fact, people often wonder why my records are so all over the place stylistically. Well, it's because I'm from Detroit."

Motor City Moments not only pays tribute to Detroit via the music-a rich mix of soul-to-swing gems written by an array of Motor City musicians including popsters Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and jazz greats Thad Jones and Milt Jackson-but the CD also stars such Detroit natives as Belgrave, pianist Barry Harris and saxophonist James Carter, the violinist's second cousin.

"This was a fun project," says Carter, who spent months perusing Detroit-based music to come up with the tunes for the recording. "You should have seen one corner of my apartment," she adds with a laugh. "It was piled with material. A guy at Verve helped me with research. He supplied me with a ton of CDs by different artists. I came up with a huge list of great tunes, so it was a hard decision making the final cuts. But it all boiled down to two factors: the piece had to speak to me on my instrument and I had to feel that I could add something of my own to it."

Carter is joined on the sessions by her touring band: pianist Werner "Vana" Gierig, bassist Daryl Hall, drummer Alvester Garnett and percussionist Mayra Casales. Other guests include drummer Lewis Nash on two tracks and guitarist Russell Malone on two others. Regarding Nash, Carter says, "While Lewis isn't from Detroit, he's like an honorary citizen after having played so many years with such natives as Betty Carter, Ron Carter and Tommy Flanagan." As for her Verve labelmate Malone, she notes that the first time they played together was onstage at last September's Monterey Jazz Festival. That brief encounter not only made for one of fest's highlight moments, but also convinced the two they should meet up again in the studio in the future.

On board as co-producer for the project was renowned bassist/arranger/bandleader John Clayton. Carter says he not only made her relax in the sessions but also gave her and the band more insight into the music. "John was such a spiritual presence," she says. "He'd say one thing and make us all think about the music and life. I'm usually very nervous in the studio because I want everything to be perfect. But John helped me to cool out."

Clayton also proved to be a valuable asset to the recording in terms of giving Carter and her cohorts the freedom to find their own musical way through the material. "Sometimes you work with producers who tell you what they want," Carter explains. "John was just the opposite. He was always open to new approaches. He taught me a lot. I've often been quick to say no to a new idea. He helped me to open up. He'd hear us playing something and suggest extending it. In that way John became partners with the band."

Case in point: the swinging lead-off track on Motor City Moments. Carter had been listening to a lot of music by the Jones brothers (Hank, Thad and Elvin). She had one Thad Jones tune in mind until Clayton suggested another. "John came in with 'Don't Git Sassy,'" recalls Carter. "He said he'd do an arrangement to see if we liked it. Well, that was great. We had a blast playing 'Sassy.' I really wanted to be part of the horn section with Marcus and James. On that tune James does his James thing on the bass clarinet. By the way, that was the second time we recorded together. The first time was on his latest album."

Carter says that coming up with a Gaye song proved to be a challenge because "anything he sang he put his stamp on." She finally chose the tune "Don't Mess with Mr. T" (from the soundtrack to the film Trouble Man) and treated it to a soulful jazz groove. As for the other pop-oriented number, Wonder's "Higher Ground," Carter and her touring band cook it up with snaky rhythms and percussive energy. "That's a band arrangement," Carter explains. "We'd mess around with this during sound checks on the road. The rest of the band would be messing with the rhythms and I'd play the melody on top. We worked on this a long time, musically locked in and made the tune totally ours."

Well versed in Afro-Cuban grooves, Carter renders the Milt Jackson tune "For Someone I Love" as a danzon, the Cuban version of a tango. It skips in a dance beat, then after the melody turns into a cha-cha with Carter playing pizzicato rhythms and soaring bowed lines. She also goes the upbeat route with soprano saxophonist Lucky Thompson's tune "Prey Loot" which is taken for a bluesy swing.

"I feel Lucky is a real important jazz figure, so I wanted to give him his due," Carter says. "His soprano tone was the most beautiful back when no one was playing the instrument. I bought a whole bunch of albums by Lucky. He wrote so many great tunes. The band was taken by this one. It's a fun little melody with a lot of hits on different beats. Barry knows Lucky and had played with him, so he helped us understand his personality by the music."

On Motor City Moments, Carter offers several slow tunes, including her stops-you-in-your-tracks original "Forever February" (a number she wrote several years ago to reflect the melancholy feeling of the desolate winter month), the passionately played ballad "Love Theme for Spartacus" (made famous by Detroiter Yusef Lateef) and the lyrical beauty "Fukai Aijo" by Harris. "I wanted to do this tune but it had been so long since Barry had played it that we had to get the recording transcribed," says Carter. "We played it as an improvisational piece. At certain points I felt I had messed up and wanted to redo it. But Barry said, look at how we touched everyone in the [recording] booth. He reminded me that that's what it's all about."

Carter ends the collection with two completely different tunes, both featuring Malone. First she launches into a gleeful, sprightly version of "Chattanooga Choo Choo," which is not Detroit-derived. It's more a sentimental favorite from Carter's youth in Detroit, specifically when she performed a tap dance recital to the number when she was a youngster. "That tune has always stuck with me. When I told my mother I was going to record it, she was real excited because of the special fondness she has for the memory of my tap routine." Carter's enthusiasm for recording the tune was so high that Clayton brought a train whistle to the session, which she blows at the very end of the piece while bowing her violin.

The end song is a funky, gutbucket duet with Malone on an improvised original titled "Up South." After listening to music by Mississippi born blues icon John Lee Hooker who first achieved fame while based in Detroit, Carter wanted to come up a Delta blues-like number. "Most of Detroit's population has its roots in the South, Russell is from the South and I spent my summers in the South with my father's family, so I wanted to reflect all that in a tune," she says. "Basically I worked up a two-bar vamp line and we played off that in the studio. Russell was great. He had just flown in from Europe. He got off the plane and came straight to the session. He led and I filled with that fiddle vibe. This is the first take."

It's a fitting end to yet another superb Regina Carter outing, one which is delightfully diverse yet firmly rooted in her experience in Detroit's musical legacy. Motor City Moments not only represents the next stage of Carter's maturing career as a leader, but it also opens a window on the creative vision of one of jazz's brightest young stars.









Paganini: After A Dream - Regina Carter
Verve, release date 4/22/2003


Freefall - Kenny Barron & Regina Carter
Verve, release date 5/15/2001


Motor City Moments - Regina Carter
Verve, release date 9/26/2000


Motherland - Danalo Perez
Verve, release date 9/19/2000


Spirit Song - Kenny Barron
Verve, release date 2/8/2000


Rhythms Of The Heart - Regina Carter
Verve, release date 5/4/1999





Regina Carter



Regina Carter combines exciting technical proficiency and improvisation with an aggressive approach to her instrument, adding multicultural influence. Her playing is melodic, yet percussive. "People are only used to hearing violin in European classical music or country music," says Carter, "and so we get stuck in this idea that this is what a violin is supposed to do. And it's such a precious instrument and such a delicate instrument... That's what people think: it's such a small, delicate little thing. Even sometimes I play with classical players in a quartet and part of the piece might call to use the back of the bow, the wood, to hit on the string to get a percussive effect or to get a different sound, and they'll say, 'I'm not going to bang on my instrument like that. This violin cost way too much money.'They don't think of it as another way of playing the instrument. They don't really want to go beyond what we think of; so even the musicians themselves sometimes are stuck into those old ways of thinking."


*"I think a lot of people look at the violin and they get a little nervous," Carter notes. "They have a stereotype of what the violin is - very high, kind of shrill-sounding with long notes, and a lot of vibrato. It doesn't have to be that at all, it can be a very fiery persuasive instrument and that's how I like to use it. I don't think of the music trying to fit the violin," she continues, "or how to make the violin work in this music. For me, it just does. I'm not playing it as a violin. Instead of being so melodic, which I can be, I tend to use the instrument in more of a rhythmic way, using vamp rhythms or a lot of syncopated rhythms, approaching it more like a horn player does. So, I don't feel that I have a lot of limitations - I feel like I can do anything."


"I followed a more non-traditional route. I initially learned by ear, then later learned to read, then learned theory. I think that kind of experience has freed my playing up a lot more, so I'm not stuck on the page. A lot of people are afraid not to have a piece of music in front of them. "I knew I wanted to play improvised music after I heard a record by violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. Ever since then, I've been dreaming of my first solo project."


"My goal is to continue to write and play music that's true to me, and if I remember that always, no one can take that away from me."