Terri Lyne Carrington is not on a mission. She’s on a slew of missions. As a drummer, bandleader, music director, artistic director, educator and community advocate, Carrington is involved with numerous projects and organizations. As a drummer, she’s featured on Wayne Shorter’s latest album, Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival. As a bandleader, she’s just released new Standards, Vol. 1 which features 11 songs from a book of music she’s published, New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers.
Carrington also serves as the artistic director for the Carr Center in Detroit, where she curated a multi-media project highlighting the contributions of women in jazz. Finally, she is the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, which is leading the way in addressing the issues of gender equity in jazz, a subject about which she’s been passionate for many years. Carrington and Berklee partnered with New Music USA to create Next Jazz Legacy, a new national apprenticeship program for women and non-binary improvisers in jazz, with the intersection of gender and race as a guiding principle.
She recently spoke with WBGO’s Lezlie Harrison about these projects and how important it is to bring about gender equity in jazz. “I have been in awe of Terri Lyne for over 40 years since I was introduced to this ‘young female drummer’ by her cousin Carol, who was my housemate when I was student at the UMass/Amherst,” says Harrison. “It has been more than inspiring to witness her history-making journey to become a NEA Jazz Master who is clearing a path for the next generation of women in jazz to not only be performers, but also producers, educators and authors.”
Watch their conversation here:
