The Sophisticated Audiophile

I’m always on the lookout for excellent music, so I was ecstatic when my friend Maryam gave me the opportunity to review Regina Carter’s upcoming album, Reverse Thread.

Regina is a world-renowned jazz violinist. Her playing has been described as ‘superlative’, and that’s an understatement. If you are not familiar with her work, you can check her out in the video below. It’s a small sample of her dexterity with the violin.

Despite being primarily labeled a jazz violinist, Regina is equally adept with classical music. She was the first jazz musician to play the Il Cannone Guarnerius, the violin of the Italian virtuoso, Niccolo Paganini. The violin was made in 1743 by Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri.

Not one to be confined by conventional labels, Regina has once again stepped out of the box with Reverse Thread. To paraphrase Regina’s website, this album is a collection of traditional African folk songs interpreted in a contemporary manner.

Joining her is Malian kora player extraordinaire, Yacouba Sissoko and Senegalese bass player, Mamadou Ba. Rounding out the rest of the line up is Adam Rogers on guitar, Will Holshouser & Gary Versace on accordion, Chris Lightcap on bass and Alvester Garnett on drums & percussion.

The album starts off with the infectious track “Hiwumbe Awumba”, a song that Maryam informs me is based on field recordings of Ugandan Jews. (never knew they existed!) The literal definition is “God creates and then destroys”. However, the song is not gloomy at all. It’s vibrant and delectable. Based on the first song, I knew I was in for a darn good time if the rest of the album was even close to it. The next two songs “N’Teri” and “Artistiya” had me involuntarily tapping my foot and grooving. Thankfully, no one was around to see me making a mockery of myself.

However, the song that really got my attention was “Day Dreamin on the Niger”. The first reason being that my father is from the tumultuous Niger Delta. The second reason being that it is a beautiful song. I don’t expect everyone to have the same emotional ties I have with the Niger Delta, but I think everyone can appreciate the splendor and beauty of the culture and the people. This goes for the entire continent of Africa for that matter.

If the album ended with “Day Dreamin on the Niger”, I would have been content, but thank God it didn’t. The song “Kothbiro” really highlights the amazing kora playing of Yacouba Sissoko, while for some reason “Zerapiki” made me want to Irish stepdance. All the songs are superb. There is no filler here. Just straight music, by talented gifted musicians.

Photo Credit - Bill Phelps

I’m extremely lucky to have an advance copy of this album, it’s magnificent. Just to show my support, I will buy a copy when it gets released, despite me having it already. Reverse Thread will be released on May 18th. It comes highly recommended.

Filed under: Classical, Jazz, Mali, Mamadou Ba, Regina Carter, Reverse Thread, Senegal, Yacouba Sissoko