Regina Carter at the Jazz Bakery on Oct.
13
You
could call her the greatest fiddle
player to come out of Detroit since Paul Chambers.
Of course Regina Carter plays a regular size violin
and not the double bass that was Chambers' instrument.
But the refreshing shock she causes is comparable
to the one you felt when you first heard that twangy
rhythm section powerhouse on those Miles Davis
Prestige sides: Where did this bonus come from?
"Lady Be Good" is her signature number,
begun slowly in the company of an unamplified guitar
and then doubled up in tempo, vaudeville style. She
plays amplified, and her sound is dark, full, free and
agreeable, particularly winning in a setting like the
Jazz Bakery.
She sounds like a serious tenor man, mainly, but
then she pops in little party decorations here
and there, grace notes and trills and things, that
remind you of her instrument's long history in another
musical world.
Of
course, you can play real fast on a violin,
and this is what she eventually did, meeting a serious
challenge posed by a burning chorus or three from her
guitarist, the flaming blue Adam Rogers.
She more than met the challenge, though, in a
furious but immaculate chorus studded with knowing
references to bebop classics like Dizzy Gillespie's
"Dynamo" and "Hot House." As she
warmed to her task, her bassist, Darryl Hall, and her
drummer, Alvester((cq)) Garnett, did too, partaking of
a second wind just when you thought they would be
tiring.
They were very exciting to hear all night long, big
in spirit and bountiful in output. On the Latin tunes
that had long monochordal passages, like
"Mojito" and "Mandingo Street,"
they kept the excitement level steady but never drove
you nuts.
The
latter number
was one of the more charming experiences of the night,
featuring a passage in which Carter sang along with
her violin, lullaby like.
Her Billie Holiday tribute, although it was not
"God Bless the Child," came dangerously
close to the overworked. Certainly the flowery
rhetoric of her pianist, Werner Gierig, could have
been suppressed. The lights dimmed and she played
"Don't Explain," quite beautifully all in
all, but brushing once or twice the sweetie pie zone
of Evelyn and her Magic Violin. Almost! Not quite!
She's got too much talent for that. Bit of a
blessing, this one.
The blessing without her
disguise.
