Terri Lyne Carrington

Biography

Terri Lyne Carrington, born on August 4, 1965, in Medford, Massachusetts (with some sources noting Malden), grew up in a musical family; her grandfather Matt Carrington was a drummer who played with Fats Waller, Gene Ammons, and Duke Ellington, and her father Sonny Carrington was also a musician who championed her early career. Discovering her grandfather's drumset at age seven, she began lessons and at ten became the youngest person to receive a Boston Musicians’ Association union card, playing her first professional gig with Clark Terry, whom she later joined regularly in 1983. At eleven, after jamming with Oscar Peterson, she earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, studying under master drummer Alan Dawson and immersing herself in jazz history while performing with legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Les McCann, Joe Williams, and others.[1][2][3][4][7]

Fun Facts

• At age 10, she became the youngest person ever to receive a Boston Musicians’ Association union card.
• She served as house drummer for The Arsenio Hall Show in 1989, lasting four months before promoting her Grammy-nominated debut album.
• She is the first woman to win a Grammy in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category, for Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue in 2013.
• Wayne Shorter recognized her talent from age 12, predicting she would open doors in jazz.

Associated Acts

• Jazz Soul Seven - original
• Murray, Allen & Carrington Power Trio - drums (drum set), eponymous, original
• Future 2 Future - drums (drum set)

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Clark Terry - early mentor and first professional gig partner; became his regular drummer (gigs starting at age 10) [1975-1983]
• Alan Dawson - master drum instructor at Berklee (drum studies) [1970s-1980s]
• Keith Copeland - early drum teacher (initial lessons) [1974]
• Jack DeJohnette - major stylistic influence and mentor in late teens (influenced her jazz drumming approach) [late 1970s-1980s]
• Roy Haynes - key stylistic influence (foundation of her drumming style) [1970s onward]
• Wayne Shorter - long-term mentor who opened doors from her early teens (band member 1986-1995) [1980s-1990s]
• Dizzy Gillespie - early inspiration and jammer (jams as child prodigy) [1970s]

Key Collaborators

• Clark Terry - regular drummer (professional gigs) [1983]
• Quincy Jones - house drummer for VIBE TV show (VIBE TV) [1989 onward]
• Wayne Shorter - band member (tours 1987-1995) [1987-1995]
• Herbie Hancock - touring and recording partner (Gershwin’s World (1998), tours for a decade) [1991-2000s]
• Joe Sample - touring partner (world tours) [1980s-1990s]
• Al Jarreau - touring partner (world tours) [1980s-1990s]
• Carlos Santana - featured on debut album (Real Life Story (1989)) [1989]

Artists Influenced

• Students at Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice - as founder and artistic director, empowers next generation especially women in jazz (Berklee Institute programs) [2010s-present]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz

Tags: #contemporary-jazz, #jazz, #jazz-fusion