Regina Carter

The violin has always been an underrepresented instrument in jazz, but Regina Carter has been carving out a space for it since the late ’80s with a style that is as eclectic as her output. Born in Detroit in 1966, Carter started studying piano at age two and violin at four. By high school she was already gigging. She played with the all-woman jazz band Straight Ahead in the late ’80s before relocating to New York, where she worked with a wide range of artists including Max Roach and Mary J. Blige. Her self-titled solo debut arrived in 1995, blending funk and hip-hop grooves with fluid, post-bop chops. Over time, Carter’s recordings would bring her technically precise, emotionally intense playing to a broad range of styles, incorporating swing, bebop, classical, and country influences, among others. In 2006 she earned a coveted MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, having become America’s premier jazz violinist.