Terri Lyne Carrington
PROJECTS:
SOCIAL SCIENCE
Galvanized by seismic changes in the ever-evolving social and political landscape, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science confront a wide spectrum of social justice issues. The band’s stunning double disc debut, Waiting Game, immediately takes its place in the stirring lineage of politically conscious and activist music, expressing an unflinching, inclusive and compassionate view of humanity’s breaks and bonds through an expansive program melding jazz, R&B, indie rock, contemporary improvisation, and hip-hop.
Released via Motéma Music, Waiting Game is as thought-provoking and artistically evocative as it is musically exhilarating. Produced by Carrington and built around her friendship and collaboration with co-producers, pianist Aaron Parks and guitarist Matthew Stevens, and additional band members Morgan Guerin (bass & sax), Debo Ray (vocals) and MC/DJ, the album features a diverse ensemble that spans multiple generations, racial, ethnic, sexual and gender identities. The band states: “Along with a message of wakefulness, inclusiveness, and noncompliance, we’ve summoned our musical influences to offer an eclectic alternative to the mainstream. Music transcends, breaks barriers, strengthens us, and heals old wounds. Music is Social Science.”
Carrington looks forward to the release of a new Social Science album soon.
WE INSIST 2025!
One of the seminal works of jazz as protest, "We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite,” was first released in 1961 by Max Roach in collaboration with Abbey Lincoln and lyricist Oscar Brown, Jr. on Candid Records. Invoking both the historic pains and hopeful potentiality of the Black experience, Roach created a striking avante-garde vocal-instrumental suite commemorating the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation and acted as an urgent call for freedom during the civil rights era, which remains poignant as ever today.
In honor of Roach's centennial, GRAMMY-Award Winning drummer-producer Terri Lyne Carrington has recorded the "Freedom Now Suite,” paying homage to Roach and Lincoln's legacy by sonically reimagining the suite, while being steadfast with the still poignant social justice message - We Insist! Continuing her work honoring jazz traditions, Carrington acknowledges Roach's legacy and its continued relevance to today's fight for freedom in order to bring forth a new story of jazz's future.
Joining her lineup are many emerging artists that she introduced to Candid Records: Morgan Guerin, Milena Casado, Simon Moullier, Zacchae'us Paul, Devon Gates, special guest percussionist Weedie Braimah, and vocalist Christie Dashiell filling in the role of Abbey Lincoln. Together, they impart the story of the "Freedom Now Suite" respecting its jazz tradition, while allowing the influences of other Black musical traditions, including gospel, R&B, and indigenous Afro-diasporic rhythms, with the resounding spirit and urgency that rings true on the original album.
NEW STANDARDS
Inter-disciplinary artist, NEA Jazz Master, multiple Grammy Award winner, activist, and educator, Terri Lyne Carrington has worked tirelessly over the last decade to advocate for inclusivity and raise the voice of women, trans and non-binary people in jazz. New Standards, her ambitious new endeavor, was created to shine a light on women composers in historic new ways. The project rolled out in the form of a groundbreaking lead sheet book of jazz compositions dedicated entirely to women composers, a Grammy Award winning album of 11 selections from the songbook featuring an all-star band and superb line-up of special guests, and a dynamic multi-media exhibition.
PRESS QUOTES:
“Carrington [has] phenomenal expertise and versatility as a drummer and composer, as well as [the] ability to lead and accentuate the talent she surrounds herself with”
NPR
“[At 16 years old], She [Terri Lyne] was very serious about what she was doing, not in a stiff way, but in a very thorough and concentrated way. She was quite at home on the drum set and extremely musical and original. I know I influenced her in some ways, but she already had her own thing. Terri Lyne and I never talked about rudiments or things like that. With us, it was all about the music, the feel. I just encouraged her to be original. She already had everything else: the intensity, the drive, and the passion.”
Jack DeJohnette
“Terri Lyne Carrington can play drums at the highest level. She’s a master. She’s one of the most experienced people in the music business—not only jazz, but any genre you can name.”
Herbie Hancock
“Terri doesn’t shy away from any musical challenge or adventure. And she puts her all into all that she does. I couldn’t even begin to list the things I’ve learned from her. When I think of her energy as a person, her playing, her writing, her knowledge—when I think of any of these things it brings me to a higher relationship with my music.”
Esperanza Spalding
“She’s a bridge. She’s steeped in the jazz tradition, but is also connected to the newer music. I learn from just hearing her talk about how she listens.”
Dianne Reeves
ON SOCIAL SCIENCE:
“A slow-funk project rooted in the rhetoric of protest”
The New York Times
“A gritty and politically charged hybrid of jazz, rock, rap and R&B. This was undeniably music as social activism - sometimes tough and uncompromising, bristling with elusive grooves, but also glinting with a kind of dark beauty.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
ON NEW STANDARDS:
“Putting her music where her mouth is, Carrington brings much-needed attention to the composing voices of women in jazz.”
NPR
