Review: The Regina Carter Freedom Band’s ‘Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground’

American presidential campaigns are often very narrowly focused. One study showed that in the 2016 election a whopping ninety-four percent of events were held within twelve states with little, if any, attention paid to the remaining thirty-eight. The modern campaigning process often trades compassion among the populace for political power. The Regina Carter Freedom Band’s Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground (Tiger Turn/eOne, 2020) speaks primarily to this problem. It co-opts the term to which its title refers and proudly claims that all fifty states matter, not just a small handful. In the process, it calls for unity and recognition of each others’ humanity.

However, the group never advocates the abandonment of principles or eradication of cultural differences. Instead, they seem to support the stated – though not always applied – ideals upon which the country prides itself. The concept of E Pluribus Unum – “Out of Many, One” – dates back to 1776, the year of Independence. But it never meant forsaking the unique features of the individual or localized groups. Carter’s agreement with this concept is made clear on the first track, a monologue laid over a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.”  It emphasizes the importance of voting, the different cultures she encountered as a child, and how we should all respect one another. This introduction ultimately guides the rest of the recording as it presents folk songs from different states and places them all on an equal footing. The choice of each composition is insightful and executed wonderfully.  

First is “Georgia on My Mind.” Its composer, Hoagy Carmichael, was one of the earliest to utilize mass media technologies to communicate across great distances. And yet it was three decades later that Ray Charles would provide the piece its most realized form as it became both a love song to his home state and a statement of hope towards a future free of discrimination. On Swing States, it becomes a more uptempo piece guided by Jon Batiste’s piano and horn lines evocative of the rhythm and blues and soul music born in the Peach State. 

With “Rocky Mountain High” Carter’s violin glides atop rising and falling rhythms as though soaring through the Rockies’ rugged terrain. “Dancing in the Street” is inspired by the Motown hit from the bandleader’s home city but with a significantly slower tempo and a melancholic interplay between violin and Harmon-muted trumpet. In doing so, it seemingly pays its respects to not just the original but also its role as a civil rights anthem. This perspective is further cemented by the later inclusion of a mournful, yet optimistic, “We Shall Overcome.”

Batiste’s speech titled “504” after the city’s area code interjects his New Orleans roots with phrases like “Who Dat?” while stating there are indeed fifty swing states and territories and attesting to the power music can have in bringing people together. It ultimately transitions into a very soulful “You Are My Sunshine.” The piece follows a steady rhythm suggestive of a steamboat traveling the Mississippi. Even among the album’s collection of official state songs, Louisiana’s stands out as some claim it was written by the state’s governor, the late Jimmie Davis.

Legendary drummer Harvey Mason then transports the proceedings northwest to Kansas, where he provides a background on the state’s under-analyzed history of jazz. The band then moves to “Home on the Range”, a song often called the unofficial anthem of the American West. Carter’s violin starts as a solitary call through the flat plains. When the rest of the band joins, they produce a sound recalling the passing of distant transcontinental train cars. 

John Daversa then discusses the Everglades, leading into Stephen Foster’s “Swanee River.” The latter’s laid back presentation sends pictures of the wild backwater of Southern Georgia and the panhandle. 

Throughout, the Regina Carter Freedom Band’s Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground is political but not overtly partisan. The choice to focus on what unites rather than divides inspires while supporting the artists’ objective. The album also adopts additional significance during a time of quarantines and shutdowns. Across cities, mountains, bayous, rivers, and plains, the violinist’s latest release provides an American road trip to listeners unable to journey far from home. In the process, the group also presents the cultures therein and how they all fit together into a patchwork that makes up the nation. In many ways, Carter writes an enlightened and empowered sociological treatise, not with a pen but with a rosined bow.

Regina Carter Freedom Band’s Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground, will be available on July 31, 2020, on Tiger Turn/e-One.

Tracklist: 1. Welcome to Swing States from Regina Carter, 2. Georgia On My Mind, 3. Rocky Mountain High (Colorado), 4. Dancing in the Street (Detroit, Michigan), 5. Jon Batiste 504, 6. You Are My Sunshine (Louisiana), 7. We Shall Overcome, 8. Harvey Mason in Kansas, 9. Home on the Range (Kansas), 10. John Daversa in the Everglades, 11. Swanee River, 12. Pennsylvania, 13. On Wisconsin!, 14. Faygo (Michigan).

Personnel: Regina Carter (violin), Harvey Mason (drums), Jon Batiste (piano), John Daversa (trumpet, flugelhorn), Kabir Sehgal (bass, percussion), Alexis Cuadrado (bass).