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Feature
Articles Violinist
Regina Carter and her quintet played a
great show to a good crowd at the Lied
Center for Performing Arts on March 13.
From the opening groove on a hot 6/8
version of Stevie Wonder's "Higher
Ground," it was apparent that this was to
be a fun evening, The crowd
was enthusiastic from the start, although
they met the leader's first solo of the
evening with total silence, only to
interrupt the pianist before he was
finished with his. A little jazz
performance applause protocol might be
helpful in those pre-performance talks
they have at the Lied. Carter,
who spoke well of the music and involved
the crowd with historical vignettes
throughout the evening, then launched into
a swinging version of "Lady Be Good."
Pianist Werner Gierig built a solo on
block chords and incredible right-hand
runs that established him as the surprise
talent of the evening. Carter swung nicely
on her solo, complete with snippets of
"Cool Blues," "If I Only Had a Brain" and
"Chattanooga Choo-Choo," with the crowd
enjoying the familiar
references. The group
then played an original ballad of
Carter's, "Forever February," dedicated to
Detroit's cold, endless winters. Carter
played the simple melody without soloing.
She did continue to connect most of the
music she did with her Detroit roots and,
of course, her latest CD, Motor City
Moments. The first set ended with a
Cuban-style danson, "Someone I Love,"
featuring another wonderful Gierig piano
solo and an extended percussion spotlight
for Mayra Casales. It was a fitting end to
a fine set that was marred only by the
sound system's muddy piano and
obliteration of Chris Lightcap's bass. The second
portion of the show opened with Carter's
singing reading of "The Love Theme from
Sparticus." While Carter isn't the type of
improviser that is continuosly stretching
and searching for new ground, she has a
beautiful vocal quality to her playing
that is always present and makes any good
song within her stylistic
reach. The group
followed up with a Richard Bona melody,
"Mandingo's Theme." This was a real
departure from much of the evening's songs
with its African 6/8 intro and melody that
led to an atmospheric rubato middle
section. Bass, percussion and drums
finished the song. Carter
dedicated the next one, "The Music Goes
'Round and 'Round," to Ella Fitzgerald and
discussed playing it on a famous old
Italian violin once owned by Paganini.
Carter traded 8ths with drummer Alvester
Garnett before cutting the drummer loose
on a long, hypnotic drum solo. The
evening closed with a Latin Steve Turre'
line called "Mojito," named for the Cuban
rum drink that's so popular right now.
This one got the band and the crowd going
with a hot timbales feature for Casales
and a burning montuno from Gierig. As the
band cooked, Carter literally danced and
enticed Gierig to join her in a routine
that they'd obviously worked out, but was
still spontaneous enough to seem very
fresh. The band and the crowd were
encouraged to sing along with the title,
and we all did. The band
finished on a high note without encore,
but the crowd was happy to have witnessed
such a professional show. The sound in the
hall was much better during the second
set, and I think most went out into the
night with good feelings from a great
performance. |
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