Regina Carter

A classically-trained violinist that has made music her life since the age of 2 is coming to the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts in Clemson on Oct. 28 and it might be a little different from what audiences would expect.

On Oct. 28, Regina Carter, a famed jazz violinist and admitted lover of all things music, will perform with her band at the Brooks Center. She has been called a virtuoso and received multiple awards including the MacArthur Fellows “Genius” fellowship. This Detroit native is regarded as one of the best jazz performers of her time and has played with legends like Wynton Marsalis and Aretha Franklin. Now, she brings her mix of high-speed licks and funked-out swing jazz to the stage of the Brooks Center.

She is a mix of classical and contemporary, always blending the worlds as much as possible. Much of it stemmed from the many influences she encountered as a young musician.

“My teacher would send me home with a stack of European classical composers: Bach, Mozart, your regular stuff,” Carter said in a phone interview. “But I had two older brothers and I’d hear the Motown going and sometimes the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.”

This amalgam of musical tastes broadened even more in high school when Carter’s best friend, a great jazz vocalist, introduced her to a plethora of jazz artists she had never heard of. When she finally heard jazz violinists, it was like they were playing just for her.

Jazz appealed, Carter said, because of the improvisation that exists within the composition. Though the violin just kind of fell in her lap at the age of 4, she fell in love with it and eventually put her own spin on the techniques she learned in Suzuki classes in Detroit.

“(Jazz) is a challenge, but it’s fun,” she said. “It gives you a chance to have an answer to the composer’s work and a chance to have your own interpretation while still respecting what the composer has written.”

Carter’s shows involve a four-piece band and will represent much of what she has done in the past as well as some new projects she is working on at present. And when the group gets on stage, she wants to make an immediate impact.

“I try and have a good time (on stage),” she said. “You’re there for so little time, so I try to be really be in the moment. I try to have a connection with the audience.”

The Regina Carter concert will be at 8 p.m. on Oct. 28. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students. For more information, call 864.656.7787 or go online to www.clemson.edu/Brooks.