Terri Lyne Carrington, 2011 July 27
Terri Lyne Carrington, jazz drummer and member of the Berklee College of Music Percussion department, discusses her performance career—including her experiences with Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock—her early drumming instructors, and experiences studying at Berklee from age ten through eighteen. She describes Boston-area jazz clubs in which she performed as a young professional, the jazz-fusion scene in New York, her teaching philosophy, and the importance of mentorship to young artists. Carrington also talks about her production career, particularly her album Mosaic Project and the Dianne Reeves’ record That Day; directing the BeanTown Jazz Festival; and her involvement with nonprofit arts organizations such as the Little Black Pearl Workshop in Chicago.
Terri Lyne Carrington (1965- ) of Medford, Massachusetts, was already a professional drummer and the youngest person to receive a union card when she enrolled as one of the youngest students in Berklee’s history at the age of 11 under a full scholarship. She studied part-time until she graduated high school at the age of 16, after which she enrolled as a full-time Berklee student. In 1983 she moved to New York and held touring jobs with musicians Clark Terry and Wayne Shorter, then moved to Los Angeles to perform on late night TV as the house drummer for both the Arsenio Hall Show and Quincy Jones’ Vibe talk show. Carrington received her first Grammy nomination for her debut album, and went on to forge a career as an award-winning drummer, composer, producer, and bandleader. Carrington was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee in 2003 and joined the Percussion department faculty in 2005. She also served for many years as Artistic Director of the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival. In 2013, she became the first woman to win the Best Jazz Instrumental Album at the Grammy’s for her album Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue. Carrington is currently the Zildjian Chair in Performance for Berklee’s Global Jazz Institute and the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice, launched in 2018.
