Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Folk Lure

If Regina Carter has a bucket list, one would imagine she’s already crossed off quite a few items. She’s played a 1743 violin once owned by Italian virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. She’s accompanied music A-listers such as Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige. And her violin has taken her from European classical music to American blues. These days, Carter’s busy applying her jazz aesthetic to traditional African music. Having recruited Yacouba Sissoko on the kora, a West African harp historically played by village storytellers, the artist reinterprets folk melodies with Afro-pop energy in her latest album, Reverse Thread. Sounds pretty forward thinking to us.