Violinist Regina Carter has used her instrument to investigate Motown, African Folk and Classical Folk as well as straightahead jazz. This time out, she reaches back into the songbook of her grandfather’s era, with material that reaches to folk music of the deep south. She brings together Adam Rogers- Marvin Sewell/g as well as Chris Lightcap-Jesse Murphy, Will Holshouser/acc, ALvester Garnett/dr as the foundational team to create a mood that lets you feel the red dirt, stilted mugginess and homespun unpretentiousness of Alabama.
Field hollers such as “Minor’s Child” and “I Moaned and Groaned” capture the passion of day laborers, while “Honky Tonkin’” evokes images of a Saturday night where everyone can finally relax with friends without a care in the world. Carter’s violin reaches deep on a riveting take of “See See Rider” and the closing “Death Have Mercy/Breakaway” tells more in notes than twenty pages from a novel. Carter and company sound right at home in this environment, showing that all a story needs is a good teller.
She’s touring around right now, so make a point to check out her shows.
Sony Music Masterworks