Coordinates | 35°10′″N33°22′″N |
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name | Terri Lyne Carrington |
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background | solo_singer |
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birth date | August 04, 1965 |
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origin | Medford, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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genre | Jazz, R&B; |
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occupation | Drummer, singer, songwriter, record producer |
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years active | 1983–present |
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label | Concord Jazz, E1 Entertainment, Video Arts Music, Verve Forecast Records, ACT Records, GrooveJazz Media |
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website | }} |
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Terri Lyne Carrington (born 1965 in Medford, Massachusetts) is a jazz drummer, composer, record producer and entrepreneur. She has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many more. For example, she has toured with each of Hancock's musical configurations (from electric to acoustic) between 1997 and 2007.
In 2007 she was appointed professor at her alma mater, Berklee College of Music, where she received an honorary doctorate in 2003.
Carrington also serves as Artistic Director of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival.
Childhood
At 7, Carrington was given a set of
drums which had belonged to her grandfather,
Matt Carrington, who had played with
Fats Waller and
Chuck Berry. After studying privately for three years, she played her first major performance at the
Wichita Jazz Festival with
Clark Terry. At age 11 she received a full scholarship to
Berklee College of Music. At 12 years old she was profiled on the PBS kids' biography program ''
Rebop''.
At Berklee College of Music she played with leading musicians such as Kevin Eubanks, Donald Harrison, Greg Osby and others. She also studied under master drum instructor Alan Dawson and made a private recording entitled, TLC and Friends, with Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, George Coleman and her father, Sonny Carrington, before turning 17.
Throughout high school she traveled across the country doing clinics at various schools and colleges.
Professional career
In 1983, encouraged by her mentor,
Jack DeJohnette, Carrington moved to New York, where she worked with
Stan Getz,
James Moody,
Lester Bowie,
Pharoah Sanders,
Cassandra Wilson,
David Sanborn, and others.
In the late 1980s she relocated to Los Angeles, where she gained recognition on late night TV as the house drummer for "The Arsenio Hall Show", then again in the late 1990s as the drummer on the late night TV show "VIBE", hosted by Sinbad. In 1996 she collaborated with Peabo Bryson on "Always Reach For Your Dreams," a song commissioned for the 1996 Olympic Games.
''Bandleader''
As a bandleader, for more than two decades, Carrington has crafted an eclectic brand of jazz that incorporates elements of bebop, soul, funk and much more. She has established a reputation for assembling artists of varying styles and perspectives to create music that adheres to the traditions of jazz yet speaks to a much broader and more diverse audience. She has toured the United States, Europe and Japan performing her own music. Notably, in recent years, she has included Esperanza Spalding, Geri Allen, Helen Sung, James Genus, Bob Hurst, Patrice Rushen, Tineke Postma, Ingrid Jensen, Nona Hendryx, Chihiro, Everette Harp, Greg Phillinganes, Lori Perry, Robert Irving III, Dwight Sills, Lawrence Fields, Randy Runyon, Gary Thomas, Aruan Ortiz, and Munyungo Jackson in her band configurations. In Summer 2011, she appeared with Wayne Shorter (with John Pattituci and Danilo Perez) in South America, and is the Musical Director of the international "Sing The Truth" Tour ... featuring Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo (with Romero Lubambo, Geri Allen, James Genus and Munyungo Jackson).
''Recording Artist''
As a recording artist, in 1988 Carrington started concentrating her efforts on writing and producing her own works ... resulting in ''Real Life Story'', her 1989 Grammy-nominated debut CD featuring Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter, Grover Washington, Jr., Gerald Albright, John Scofield, Hiram Bullock, Patrice Rushen, Greg Osby, and Dianne Reeves, ''Jazz is a Spirit'', her 2002 European CD featuring Herbie Hancock, Wallace Roney, Terence Blanchard, Kevin Eubanks and Gary Thomas, and ''Structure'', her 2004 European CD with Jimmy Haslip, Greg Osby and Adam Rogers. Also, after a 20 year hiatus from U.S. recording, Carrington released the 2009 CD ''More to Say ... Real Life Story: NextGen'', a sequel to her 1989 debut "Real Life Story" CD. The album features legends Nancy Wilson and Les McCann, George Duke, Kirk Whalum, Everette Harp, Christian McBride, Jimmy Haslip, Greg Phillinganes, Robert Irving III, Patrice Rushen, Chuck Loeb, Walter Beasley, Anthony Wilson, Lawrence Fields, Ray Fuller, Dwight Sills, Lori Perry and Chris Walker ... with a special appearance by Sonny Carrington. Most of the 15 tracks on the CD are written or co-written by Carrington. In 2011, Carrington again brings her diverse sensibility to her new recording ''The Mosaic Project'', an album that once again gathers a myriad of voices and crystallizes them into a multi-faceted whole that far outweighs the sum of its parts. The Mosaic Project, Carrington’s fifth album overall and her first on Concord Jazz, is scheduled for release on July 19, 2011 (http://mediakits.concordmusicgroup.com/33016/).
''Entrepreneur''
As an entrepreneur, Carrington is a partner in Hebert-Carrington Media (HCM). Founded in 2007 and based in Atlanta, Boston, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, HCM's origins can be traced to the long-term relationships with company co-founder: Robert A. Hebert, Esq., High Tech entrepreneurs Frank White, Jr. and Dr. Bernard Yaged, and top Media and Communications advisor Don Lucoff of DL Media. HCM is focused on new business models for the communications and media industry, with the mission of exploring the right, flexible combinations of art and commerce to ensure it will thrive in the emerging New Media industry environment. Through its HCM Digital Team, the company can meet its vision of creating, producing, marketing, selling and delivering timeless, entertaining and informative media via all existing communications channels. HCM has relationships with Concord Music, E1 Entertainment, Pony Canyon (Japan), Video Arts Music (Japan), Herbie Hancock, Toninho Horta, Oscar Castro-Neves, Arthur Maia, Romero Lubambo, Robert Irving III, Mitchel Forman, Helen Sung, Darryl Jones, and Vince Wilburn/Miles Davis Properties. Through its label brands, e.g., GrooveJazz Media, over several years HCM has carefully organized the requisite creative, business and technical infrastructure needed to deliver world-class media authored by highly creative artists. The company's mission includes the development of young talent in Brazil and the U.S.
The Mosaic Project (2011)
The Mosaic Project assembles an all-female all-star cast.
“Everything about this recording is about making a larger picture out of many various elements,” says Carrington, who produced the 14-song set. “I assembled several friends – most of whom I’ve performed with in the past, and all of whom bring their own individual story – to help me create the big picture. For as talented as each of them are as individuals, when I put them all together, I have a much greater musical story – one that can be told in an interesting and compelling way.”
Included on that list of friends are some of the most prominent female artists of the last few decades, including: Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cassandra Wilson, Nona Hendryx, Patrice Rushen, Sheila E, Geri Allen, Tineke Postma, Ingrid Jensen, Helen Sung, Gretchen Parlato, and Esperanza Spalding, who in 2011 won the Award for "Best New Artist" at the 53rd Grammy Awards (making her the first jazz artist to win the award). Carrington says the emergence of so many great female artists is what finally makes an album like The Mosaic Project possible, more so now than in decades past.
“If I had tried to do something like this in the past – like when I started playing 25 years ago – I might have felt limited by the pool of available musicians,” she says. “But now there are so many talented women whom I’ve been playing with anyway – not just because they’re women but because I love the way they play. So it has become easier to do a special project that celebrates the artistry and the musicality of these women.”
The Mosaic Project opens with “Transformation,” a song written and sung by Nona Hendryx that examines the constant state of flux and change that exists throughout nature and the universe. “This is completely different from Nona’s original version,” says Carrington. “Some people wouldn’t even recognize it, but this song resonates with me - so much so that I started hearing other music around her original melody with moments of Wayne Shorter’s influence peeking through.”
Gretchen Parlato takes the mike on a sensual rendition of Irving Berlin’s “I Got Lost in His Arms,” and follows immediately with setting up the intro on a jazzy and slightly revved up rendition of the McCartney/Lennon’s classic love ballad, “Michelle.” The latter is consistent with Carrington’s recurring tradition of inserting Beatles covers into various albums.
Further in, the shimmering and melodic “Magic and Music” is a track that evolved over time and ultimately came together as a tribute to the late soul legend Teena Marie. “I had written the music a while ago, but the lyrics are new. I wrote the lyrics as a tribute to Teena, who was a friend of mine. Any real fan of hers – anyone who really knows her music – will recognize that this song is all about her.
The politically and emotionally charged “Echo,” a song by Bernice Johnson Reagon of the all-female, African-American a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, is the powerful centerpiece to the album. Carrington’s arrangement for the song, which came together a couple years ago to celebrate the honorary doctorate that Reagon received from Berklee College of Music in 2009, opens with a thought provoking introduction by civil rights activist Angela Davis, then moves into a stirring vocal feature by Dianne Reeves. “Bernice was a major influence on my development as a young woman in the late ‘80s, as was Dianne and Angela, and I wanted to pay tribute to them because their music, activism, friendship and humanity were all strong influences on me personally.”
Other noteworthy tracks in the latter half of the sequence include a seductive cover of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful,” with warm and sensual vocals by Cassandra Wilson; the percussive yet soaring “Unconditional Love,” written by Geri Allen and sung by Esperanza Spalding; and Spalding’s own whimsical and syncopated “Crayola,” which appears just a couple tracks later.
Dee Dee Bridgewater delivers the vocal line on “Soul Talk,” a piece written by Carrington and Hendryx and arranged with an elastic rhythm and a fascinating instrumental mix. The churning “Mosaic Triad,” another Carrington composition, vacillates between bebop and funk, and in the process sets up a rich sonic pallet that forces the listener to engage and take notice. “Show Me a Sign,” written by Carmen Lundy, is the deceptive closer - melodic on one hand, yet infused with a sense of urgency by the persistent rumble of drums that underscores the entire track.
With so many individual voices and perspectives in the mix, the results are often eye-opening and ear-opening. “There’s one part of me that’s kind of a jazz head who likes complex, thought provoking melodies and harmonies,” she says. “And then there’s another part of me that really likes funk and pop and things that are accessible. This record is another chance for me to assemble all of these great musicians to help me combine those different aspects of myself – those different pieces – and create something special in the process."
References
External links
Terri Lyne Carrington website
Hebert-Carrington Media website
Drummerword article
Partial discography
''Real Life Story'' (1989)
''Jazz is a Spirit'' (2002)
''Structure'' (2004)
''More to Say'' (2009)
''Mosaic Project'' (2011)
Category:People from Medford, Massachusetts
Category:American jazz drummers
Category:Women in jazz
Category:Berklee College of Music alumni
Category:1965 births
Category:Living people
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