Photo courtesy of ReginaCarter.com
In some ways, Friday night's Regina Carter set at the Jazz Standard felt like an episode of This American Life: the music was understated yet richly detailed, like one of Ira Glass' dry tales of horrific hilarity. After being named a MacArthur Fellow in 2006, Carter—jazz's preeminent violinist—immersed herself in the African continent’s rich musical history, blending traditional folk melodies with her own contemporary jazz, without sacrificing their homespun beauty.
Playing with her Reverse Thread Band, Carter commanded most of the attention, shifting between multiple stops, harmonics, extended technique, and traditional phrasing, without ever letting her virtuosity overshadow her musical expressiveness. Indeed, the performance felt like a late-night conversation between close friends, with each member giving the other room to speak. Alvester Garnett and Chris Lightcap—covering percussion and upright bass, respectively—were often felt more than heard, and their restraint allowed the delicate colors of Carter's lightly plucked strings to pierce the sparse sonic soundscape. On Garnett’s original composition, “New for New Orleans,” he finally let loose, augmenting his extended solo with vocal outbursts.
After their official set ended, the crowd called the band back for a rare jazz-club encore. Keeping the intimate mood, Carter and kora player Yacouba Sissoko shared the lead on the contemplative “N'Teri” (or "Friendship.") With the subtle backing of the ensemble, the pair traded melodic ideas, foregoing the one-upmanship often associated with trading solos. That the kora – a 21-string African harp made from cow skin and fishing line - is traditionally played by village storytellers, and the violin is often cited as the closest instrument to the human voice, only added to the evening's conversational tone.
As any fan of This American Life well knows, Carter's presentation ended up revealing a basic truth of our human experience: When we are willing to listen, cultural differences melt away.