Friday, November 22, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

In the Spotlight

Violinist Carter

plays at UNLV

Violinist Regina Carter will perform at 8 p.m. today in Artemus Ham Hall at the UNLV Performing Arts Center. The Regina Carter Quintet will perform songs from "Motor City Moments," an album that not only represents the next stage of Carter's musical career, but opens a window on her creative vision.

Originally from Detroit, Carter studied the Suzuki method of violin in elementary school and learned how to play in an unorthodox fashion. First, she learned to play by ear, then to read sheet music and finally music theory. As a college student attending the New England Conservatory, she studied both classical music and jazz before she decided to pursue jazz full time.

Carter has collaborated with many artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Lauryn Hill, Cassandra Wilson, Olive Lake, Max Roach, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Steve Turre, Billy Joel and Dolly Parton. She has been acclaimed by the New York Times for her solos on Marsalis' "Blood on the Fields" tour and Cassandra Wilson's recent "Travelin' Miles" concert, at New York's Lincoln Center. When her band opened for Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter last summer, the Washington Times described the performance as "electric. The violinist had her instrument laughing, crying and screaming to her furious fingers."

Tickets for the Regina Carter Quintet are $19, $29 and $39. They may be purchased at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Performing Arts Center box office, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, by calling 895-2787 or from UNLVTickets.com.