Terri Lyne Carrington, NEA Jazz Master, is an unstoppable force when she gets a pair of drum sticks in her hands. The three-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, and educator has performed alongside legends such as Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, Al Jarreau, and Esperanza Spalding. She began her professional career at the age of ten and received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music at the age of eleven.
Carrington, the first female musician to win a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for her work Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue in 2013, has released eight albums in her successful career.
Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science launched their debut album Waiting Game in 2019, which uses music to bring many current social justice concerns to light. Since the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted this summer, Carrington and the ensemble have been touring jazz festivals. Carrington discussed her next projects and intentions for the new year with rolling out lately.
Tell us about your latest endeavor and upcoming book.
In December, I’ll be recording a new album called New Standards, which will be dedicated to female composers. It’s a book that I’ll be publishing through Berklee College of Music. It’s a collection of 101 lead sheets from female composers. It’s a collection of all these tunes since we have The Real Book, which jazz musicians, especially students, utilize to study songs. When I read through it, though, I see that there are very few songs written by women. As a result, I’m coming up with a new title for this album: New Standards Vol. 1. Because there are 101 songs in the book, we’ll put 10-12 on the first album, and my objective is to record them all.
