Terri Lyne Carrington talks Grammys, mentorship and the pursuit of progress
Congratulations on the Grammy. For a project like New Standards, does this kind of a win stand out?
Yes, absolutely. Honestly, they all stand out because it’s so competitive and when your peers recognize you, it means so much. But this one stands out because we were really trying to make a statement with the album and the book, really acknowledging women composers and women that have been left out of the canon. To have the [Recording] Academy recognize that is really special.
You received the honorary doctorate from York University back in June. At the time, you mentioned it was important to you because you had a similar connection with music education to the style with which York approaches it. What did you mean by that?
I’m not sure — I don’t remember the exact quote. But I think I’m a progressive person. I like to try to make the world that I want to live in. I feel that that is what I meant.
I recently had a chance to talk to Kris Davis, and she talked about her work with you at the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and about the New Standards project. She talked about a level of inspiration and motivation that you offer a lot of people. Who inspired you? Did you have that role in your life?
There were a lot of people. Of course there were people that inspired me musically, but there are also people that have inspired me in other ways — people like Angela Davis, Bernice Johnson Reagon and, of course, my biggest mentors who are Wayne Shorter and Jack DeJohnette. [They’re] all very forward-thinking people who have helped shape who I am. All I’m trying to do is learn as I go and become a better person, and pass what I know on to others.
Do you feel any kind of pressure to do that, to be that mentor for other people like your mentors were for you?
I wouldn’t say I feel pressure. When you’re doing what you love and what you feel is right, it’s not a feeling of pressure. But one thing that I do feel is tired — a little exhaustion when it comes to some of these matters, because they are tiring. If you’re in groups that have been marginalized in any way, it can be a bit tiring to educate others and keep pointing to the very thing that has exhausted you. To have to keep pointing to it can be a lot sometimes. I think finding balance and spreading the joy in music is really what offsets all of that.
This interview has been edited and condensed.