“This disc was to pay homage to my family,” says jazz violinist Regina Carter about her new album, Southern Comfort, “but it turned out to be so much more.”
For her latest album, Carter worked to put her own roots through a modern lens. She researched collections of folklorists’ field recordings from Appalachia like Alan Lomax and John Work III to further understand the era in which her grandfather lived.
“When I would hear some of these field recordings, if I heard something that touched me I put it on the list,” says Carter.
She brings the sounds of Alabama coal miners to her new album along with her interpretation of Cajun fiddle music, thematically connecting her earlier albums I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (2006), featuring her mother’s favorite jazz standards, and Reverse Thread (2010), which uses elements of traditional African music re-invented for violin, accordion, bass, drums and kora.
Carter and her quartet transform simple folk tunes into a groovy kind of jazz that fans and critics rave about, and on Thursday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m., the Regina Carter Quartet will be performing this perfect blend of the past and present at The Heymann Performing Arts Center. It is new local arts presenter UpStage’s first major presentation.
Opening for the Regina Carter Quartet will be Lafayette’s own jazz saxophonist Jeremy Benoit, aka JB Saax. Benoit started his career in the familiar halls of J.W. Faulk Elementary and became instantly hooked on that signature saxophone sound. Benoit and his band work to use jazz sounds to project joy to the audience, making this young talent the perfect opener to the unique musical sounds of the Regina Carter Quartet.
Tickets for the March 10 performance by the Regina Carter Quartet are available at the Heymann Performing Arts Center, online at tickemaster.com and by phone at (800) 745-3000.