Jazz Violinist Regina Carter to Perform Feb. 23

Virtuoso violinist Regina Carter will bring her tour program, Simply Ella, to Oberlin’s Finney Chapel on February 23 at 8 p.m. during the college’s Black History Month celebration.

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, which awarded Carter its prestigious “genius grant.” Her performance celebrates the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald—the primary source of Carter’s musical inspiration.

“Growing up in Detroit, there was always music playing in our home. While there was a variety of music I enjoyed, there were a few recordings and artists I found consistently captivating. Ella Fitzgerald was one of these exceptions,” says Carter, whose recent release, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, and touring program, Simply Ella, mark the 100th birthday of a musical legend.

“To this very day, whenever I hear an Ella recording it grabs me at my core. I’m entranced by her voice, her melodic improvisations and the passion and artfulness with which Ella sings a song. She helps me understand a song by providing a window to its essence. In a word, Ella is sublime, and she is at the top of my go-to list when learning a jazz tune.”

The New York Times has described Carter as “enormously gifted, bringing a blues sensibility to her improvisations,” while TIME magazine says she “creates music that is wonderfully listenable, probingly intelligent and, at times, breathtakingly daring…taking the listener into the future of jazz.”

Tickets are $8 for the general public and can be ordered by calling Oberlin College’s Ticket Service at (800) 371-0178, online, or the Wilder Information Desk.