The Schulich School of Music is thrilled to welcome three-time Grammy award-winning drummer, producer, educator, and activist, Terri Lyne Carrington, who will be joining us for a short residency in March 2020. As a young prodigy Carrington studied at the Berklee College of Music on full scholarship, and since then her esteemed talents have been highly in demand, from New York City to Los Angeles. She can be heard on over 100 recordings alongside jazz greats such as Stan Getz, Woody Shaw, Clark Terry, and has toured extensively with the likes of Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. In addition to her musical prowess, Carington currently serves as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender studies, which seeks to explore the relationship between jazz and gender equity. Her latest project, Terri Lyne Carington and Social Science, has recently released their debut album called ‘Waiting Game’, where Carrington, in collaboration with Aaron Parks and Matthew Stevens, uses music as a means to explore today’s societal concerns and dynamic political climate.
In advance of her residency at Schulich, we’ve asked Terri Lyne about some of the driving forces behind her artistry.
What are you most looking forward to about your collaboration with the Schulich School of Music?
I am most looking forward to exchanging ideas with the students and faculty about the state of jazz, where it is, where it’s going how things can be improved… I think the dialogue on these issues is very important in this multi generational, multi cultural community. We have to improve the diversity in the music and in music education, so these are the conversations I look forward to.
With a career spanning over 40 years, what are some things that keep you creatively stimulated and inspired?
I remain inspired by listening to younger musicians and trying to keep my self involved with the pulse of where the music is presently and where it is going. The exchanges and sharing of information is of service to both the students an the teachers.
You recently released a debut album with your newest group Social Science called “Waiting Game”. Can you tell us about that, and about what it means for music to be social science?
The Social Science album, Waiting Game, is a commentary on the things we are seeing and experiencing in our society. It is hopefully inspiring some provocative thought on the issues of racism, classism, genocide, mass incarceration, gender equity homophobia and more. We don’t have all the answers of course, but we feel it important to address the issues with some information and some compassion about what is going on in the world around us.
What themes are exhibited throughout the album and how do you see jazz as an agent for social change?
I mentioned the themes in the previous answer, but jazz is to me the highest form of creative music. Though it is a global music, it was founded in the United States and it is deeply profound to witness how these beautiful and creative art forms emerge from oppression. This is why it is an agent for social change. But it is also interesting that it has been in the forefront of change during the civil rights era, but has been behind the curve when it comes to gender equity. This is something we ponder and talk about as well. If people care about the music, they will want it to live up to its full potential, which it cannot if such a large portion of the gender spectrum is not represented in the creation and performance of the music.
If there is one thing you would want your listeners to take away from your music, what would it be?
How to live an authentic life, and how to represent courage, compassion, and wisdom with the work that they do, no matter what that work is.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to young jazz musicians?
To use these formative years to gather as much information as they can, and to apply it as best they can, even if they don’t fully know what they are doing yet. To have the desire to make every moment count, to work hard and create value with all that they do, and have faith that it will all pay off for them in the end.
Take a listen to the title track of ‘Waiting Game’ below:
Terri Lyne will be having an Equity Talk on March 12, 2020 with Schulich faculty Lisa Barg. Additionally, you can catch her working with our students in masterclasses on March 12 and March 13. You can also watch her perform in our Schulich in Concert series alongside our very own McGill Jazz Orchestra I, at 7:30pm on March 13th, 2020 in Tanna Schulich Hall.
