Regina Carter: Simply Ella

Sony Masterworks recording artist Regina Carter is the foremost jazz violinist of her generation. Her quest for beauty combined with her passion for excellence did not escape the attention of the MacArthur Foundation, who awarded Regina their prestigious fellowship “genius grant.” Carter’s 2017 release, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, and touring program, Simply Ella, mark the 100th birthday of musical legend Ella Fitzgerald – THE source of Regina’s musical inspiration – and are the end result of Carter’s daily communion with and lifelong devotion to Ella’s music. Carter grew to realize how much technique and virtuosity is involved in producing a sound so remarkably warm and inviting with all of the melodic improvisations, passion, artfulness and understanding imbued to the listener by providing a window to each song’s essence. In Carter’s own heartfelt and deeply personal interpretations of these songs, through a lens of classic 1950s – ‘60s soul and blues, we can hear the same degree of warmth, feeling and elegance that permeated the legendary singer’s work. Carter recalls, “When (Ella) sang . . . it felt like love.”