Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground, is the latest from multi-GRAMMY nominee, MacArthur Fellow, and Doris Duke Award recipient, violinist Regina Carter. For this momentous release, Carter has assembled her Freedom Band, a first-rate ensemble of consummate musicians including multi-GRAMMY award winners John Daversa (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Kabir Sehgal (bass, percussion), GRAMMY nominees Harvey Mason Jr.(drums) and Jon Batiste (piano) – renowned for leading the house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and recent musically led protests in NYC – alongside the widely-acclaimed Alexis Cuadrado (bass). This politically charged fourteen-track collection is a strong balance of patriotism and protest, serving to illuminate the power of democracy and serve as a beacon of hope.
Celebrated musical force Regina Carter, arguably the most expressive on her instrument in this genre, delivers an optimistic and encouraging project that extols the importance of taking part in the democratic process. Angered and dismayed by the sheer volume of registered voters who decided not to vote in 2016, Regina reflected, “voting is a civic duty and an extremely important responsibility, even more so now as we are living in surreal times…we have become a divided country of Red vs. Blue, Us vs. Them or Not Our Kind and that pot is starting to boil over.” Carter speaks on the opening track providing immediate insight into Carter’s childhood memories of the discrimination African Americans faced within the democratic system of the US as she highlights the sacrifices that many had to endure to gain the right of suffrage.
With the support of her bandmates, Carter selected the official (and some unofficial) songs of the “swing states” that will determine the election, such as “Pennsylvania”, “Swanee River” (Florida), and “Rocky Mountain High” (Colorado). A selection of other reimagined American classics round out the album. Most of these songs are familiar but the interpretations are at times jaw-dropping.
A native of Michigan – a swing state with sixteen pivotal electoral votes – Regina opted to represent her home state by including a breathtaking interpretation of “Dancing in the Streets,” a song that is synonymous with Motown. Regina’s searing solo rendition of “We Shall Overcome” – the anthem that is still painfully relevant today – can also be regarded as a soundtrack for overcoming the ongoing health crisis. Representing executive producer Kabir Sehgal’s home state is “Georgia On My Mind” and as he notes, “as much as I’d like to think of my native Georgia as a swing state, for now I will have to be satisfied knowing that “Georgia On My Mind” is beloved by people of all parties.” Regina chose to close the album with the theme song to Faygo Pop, a popular soda made in Michigan and in doing so, provides the listener with some much-needed levity during the current times.
Jon Batiste delivers the spoken intro for “You Are My Sunshine” (Louisiana) on which the combo delivers an amazingly inventive take on such a simply constructed song. Throughout the entire album these musicians surprise with Carter leading the way on variations to these widely known songs. Harvey Mason Jr. does the spoken intro that leads to “Home on the Range” (Kansas) which is brilliantly ended by Daversa’s flugelhorn and Carter’s aching violin. John Daversa then delivers a master class of trumpet phrasing on “Swanee River” which morphs into a spirited dialogue with Carter. Pennsylvania” proves to be a fine vehicle for solos from each band member while the marching fight song “On Wisconsin” for the state of the same name, is the edgiest track of all, finding all soloists in free jazz mode.
The project was recorded at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University, with each of the group pieces arranged by John Daversa. Daversa also joins Kabir Sehgal on production duties, alongside Doug Davis and Harvey Mason Jr. This is familiar territory for Daversa who won a Grammy for his brilliant American Dreamers: Voices Of Hope, Music Of Freedom performed by the John Daversa Big Band featuring DACA Artists.
Perhaps the pandemic will reveal the resiliency of American institutions and lead to further innovative and resourceful ways of voting: early voting, absentee voting, voting by mail, perhaps even online voting. The current situation might prove to be the catalyst to enfranchise more to participate in the democratic process. Sehgal says, “we hope that Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground helps people forget about which states are red and which are blue. We have fifty swing states (and a few territories). We’re all Americans. We’re all humans. Let’s work together to become survivors.” Carter says, “The Swing States project is a musical contribution that I hope will help galvanize folks to get out, exercise their right to vote and encourage their brothers and sisters to do so as well.”
Get inspired by the music, help get out the vote and, certainly, get out to vote yourself.
