Regina Carter In London

The leading American jazz violinist Regina Carter is appearing with her band at Ronnie Scott's Club, Soho, all this week. Last night's sets were played to a packed house, and included music from Carter's most recent CDs Rhythms Of The Heart and Paganini - After A Dream, as well as some new material. The band is the same one that Carter has been touring with and with which she appeared in London last October at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, composed of distinguished musicians: drummer Alvester Garnett, who is renowned for his work with the singer Betty Carter, and has also played with Abbey Lincoln and Cyrus Chestnut, Cuban percussionist Myra Casales, pianist David Budway (son of the violinist and Arabic music specialist Leo J. Budway), and bassist Chris Lightcap.

Both sets were galvanizing in their energy and articulation, with a blend of drumming and percussion that enabled both Casales and Garnett to display their virtuosity, and yet in combination with piano and bass also communicated directly with the percussive and soaring lyricism of Carter's bowing style. The highlights of the first set were perhaps "Black Orpheus", containing a mesmerizing pizzicato solo by Carter, "Central Havana", with Casales taking the lead on Latin percussion, and the Ravel "Pavane". In the second set, the real tour de force was a witty, extended but lightning-swift account of the old Tommy Dorsey standard, later made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, "The Music Goes Round And Round", with Myra, David and Regina joining forces on vocals later in the number. Regina's performance in Debussy's "Reverie" was also notable, the gutsy, blues-like strength of her playing branching out in all directions, even into quotations from "Satin Doll".

While I enjoyed the band's performance at the QEH concert last October, I feel that the club setting suits it even better than the larger space of the concert hall. In the more intimate surroundings of Ronnie Scott's there's a better opportunity to follow the many-faceted interaction of percussion, drums and violin that is an essential feature of the Carter band. A major drawback, however, is the smoky atmosphere: despite repeated calls for no smoking during the performances - Regina Carter suffers with chronic asthma - people in the audience continued to smoke, with the result that the first set was curtailed by at least one number.