Terri Lyne Carrington

Terri Lyne Carrington was a popular side player throughout the 1980s and '90s, and contributed her funky drum style to many different settings. Carrington was a bit of a prodigy, impressing many veteran jazz players while still a child, and was one of the first significant female drummers in jazz. Moving to New York City in the early '80s, she began to get gigs with many local musicians before gaining enough attention to warrant another move, this time to California, where she was seen by millions on a nightly basis as a member of the band on The Arsenio Hall Show and worked well with Wayne Shorter's late-'80s band. She released her debut recording as a leader on Verve Forecast in 1989. Into the late '90s, Carrington continued working steadily and was heard best in funk settings, as exemplified by her work as a side player for Herbie Hancock. At the turn of the century, her second solo album began to take shape and was eventually released as Jazz Is a Spirit in 2002. Two years later she delivered Structure, featuring the similarly funk and post-bop-inclined saxophonist Greg Osby. Carrington returned in 2009 with More to Say...Real Life Story, which featured an all-star lineup of guest artists including George Duke, Everette Harp, Kirk Whalum, and Walter Beasley, as well as then up-and-coming trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. In 2011, she released The Mosaic Project, which spotlighted several vocalists — including Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, and Dee Dee Bridgewater — among other artists.