What does the award-winning, classically trained, jazz violinist Regina Carter do, after playing Niccolo Paganini's famous Guarneri "Cannon" violin in Paganini: After a Dream (Verve Music Group, 2003), or reinterpreting songs from the 1920s-1940s in I'll Be Seeing You ( Verve Music Group, 2006)? She directs her interests and passion towards African folk music in Reverse Thread, a significant work in her already diverse discography.
A 2006 MacArthur Fellow, Carter took full advantage of the very generous funding to exhaustively research rich traditional music, that encompasses the reach of the African Diaspora. "Hiwumbe Awumba" is based on field recordings from Ugandan Jews, while "Un Aguinaldo Pa Regina" blends African music with harmonies originating in India and Puerto Rico, fresh interpretations of music from Mali or Madagascar, and the timeless sounds of ancestral instruments.
From the hinterlands in Africa, Europe, and the Americas, this is modern folk music that is global, traditional, and full of soul. It's a communion of sounds, articulated by Carter's resonating violin, along with a fine ensemble of noted jazz artists and brilliant additions including the old-world timbre of accordionists Will Holshouser and Gary Versace, and Kora (21-string West African harp) master, Yacouba Sissoko.
What might sound like a jig, a polka, or Cajun rug cutting music, might actually come from an African folktale through the infectious rhythm of "Kanou." The soothing hypnotism of "N'Teri" is uplifting, as the melody is layered by contrasting instrument textures. The variety is abundant. Whereas "the elongated melody of "Kothbiro" moves gently, "Full Time" is Afro-pop dance music, with Carter bowing effervescently, propelled by Mamadou Ba's funky bass and Alvester Garnett's (Carter's husband) tight drum work. The global demarcation lines are blurred throughout, whether in "Un Aguinaldo Pa Regina" or the festivities in "Zerapiki," originally an accordion-based song brought from Madagascar.
A sense of spirituality is also present. The stirring rendition of the church hymn "Juru Nani / God Be With You" contains multiple styles and boundaries, exchanging ideas from Africa to America, while the haunting accordion/violin harmonies in "Mwana Talitambula" are based on a field recording of a woman singing in eastern Uganda.
There's a trove of jewels waiting to be mined in Reverse Thread. Thankfully, Carter's unquenchable thirst for new music has allowed her to produce this important recording.
Track Listing: Hiwumbe Awumba; Full Time; N'Teri; Artistiya; Un Aguinaldo Pa Regina; Kothbiro (Intro); Kothbiro; Zerapiki; Day Dreamin on the Niger; Juru Nani / God Be With You; Kanou; Mwana Talitambula. - Mark F. Turner
Regina Carter has been a lot of places since we last heard from her on I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey, a standards album. That album was released in June; in September she won a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (aka "the genius grant"). Nearly four years later, she returns with the startling Reverse Thread, a collection based mainly on African songs both modern and traditional, and field recordings with some modern material thrown in.
"Hiwumbe Awumba," the opener, is an Abayudaya piece; it is one of three tracks here based on field recordings from Ugandan Jews. While its melody remains intact, Xavier Davis' arrangement creates a contemporary reading utilizing guitar (Adam Rogers), violin, acoustic bass (Chris Lightcap), accordion (Will Holshouser), and drums (Alvester Garnett). "Full Time" is based on a celebratory folk song written by electric bassist Mamadou Ba that features Yacouba Sissoko on the kora; the interplay between Carter's violin and Sissoko's kora is lively and dance-like, and Ba's bassline walks the line between funk and reggae. "Un Aguinaldo Pa Regina" was composed by Latin jazz master Papo Vasquez and courses an easy line through lithe, balladic Afro-Cuban son, the tango, and a kiss of flamenco. Carter's only original composition is the gorgeous "Day Dreaming on the Niger," where her violin, Gary Versace's accordion, Ba's electric bass, and Garnett's drums move through an incantatory vamp and groove before she and Versace solo, complementing one another from opposite ends of the skeletal melody. Boubacar Traoré's "Kanou" creates a polyrhythmic base on hand and kit drums, and a melodic base for the interplay between Sissoko, Carter, and Holshouser. It is not only engaging, it is almost breathtaking. The set closes with another of Piece's tunes entitled "Mwana Talitambula," and arranged by Lightcap. Holshouser's accordion states a spare, haunting melody, responded to and elaborated upon by Carter, while the rhythms of the ensemble's dynamics build gradually before whispering to a close.
With its musical sophistication and willingness to explore harmonic and rhythmic invention, Reverse Thread embodies the spirit of jazz. It feels like each song was being discovered as it was being recorded, and the end result is an undefinable, uncategorizable beauty. - Thom Jurek
Tracks
01. Hiwumbe Awumba (Traditional)
02. Full Time (Mamadou Ba)
03. N'Teri (Habib Koité)
04. Artistiya (Miriam Doumbia)
05. Un Aguinaldo Pa Regina (Papo Vazquez)
06. Kothbiro (intro)
07. Kothbiro (James Achieng/Ayub Ogada)
08. Zerapiky (Traditional)
09. Day Dreaming on the Niger (Regina Carter/Reginald Washington)
10. Juru Nani/God Be with You (Bassekou Kouyate/Traditional)
11. Kanou (Boubacar Traoré)
12. Mwana Talitambula (Traditional)
GARY VERSACE accordion (2 to 5, 9)
WILL HOLSHOUSER accordion (1, 7, 8, 10 to 12)
CHRIS LIGHTCAP bass (1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 to 12)
MAMADOU BA bass (2, 3, 9)
ALVESTER GARNETT drums, percussion
ADAM ROGERS guitar (1, 5, 8)
YACOUBA SISSOKO kora (2, 3, 6, 7, 11)
REGINA CARTER violin
JOE FERLA handclaps (8)
E1 Entertainment - E1E-CD-2090