'At age two she picked up the feeling of music while listening to jazz in the arms of her father, Sonny Carrington. By age five, she was playing her father's alto sax. After losing her two front teeth, she changed instruments and made her first stage appearance with Rahsaan Roland Kirk playing the tambourine. When she reached age seven, she was given her first set of drums, which belonged to her grandfather who played with Fats Waller and Chuck Barry. She began playing along with the music of Otis Redding, Cannonball Adderley, James Brown, and others. At age eight she began private lessons with John Wolly. By age ten, she had received three standing ovations at the Wichita Jazz Festival appearing with trumpeter Clark Terry. She also began studying with Keith Copeland at Berklee College of Music and made her TV debut on the "The Good Day Show" with Illinois Jacquet. At age fourteen she began performing under her own name and at age 15 she toured southern colleges as a clinician under Larry Ridley's guidance for the national Endowment for the Arts. She also performed "Rise and Fly" with Max Roach and tackled a Boston one week engagement with Nat Adderley.
Terri Lyne Carrington, the child prodigy of the 70's is The Woman of the millenium! A world-renowned drummer, composer, producer, and clinician, her versatility maintains her status in the industry as a person to watch! Born in Medford, Massachusetts in 1965 into a family steeped with talent, Terri developed a reputation jamming with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Les McCann, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, and many, many more. A full scholarship at age 11 to Berklee College of Music gave her the opportunity to study harmony and composition also. While yet a student, she met and played with such people as Kevin Eubanks, Mike Stern, Branford Marsallis, Pat Matheny, Greg Osby, and others. She also studied under the master drum instructor Alan Dawson and made a debut recording entitled, "TLC and Friends", with Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, George Coleman, and her dad, Sonny Carrington.
Throughout high school Terri traveled across the country doing clinics and workshops at schools and colleges. In 1983, encouraged by her mentor, Jack DeJohnette, she moved to New York and started working with Stan Getz, James Moody, Lester Bowie, Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, and Wayne Shorter.
In 1989, Terri moved to Los Angeles where she became the house drummer for the "Arsenio Hall Show". She has also toured the globe with Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Herbie Hancock, Gerald Albright, and Lalah Hathaway. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for her first release on Polygram, "Real Life Story" which featured Carlos Santana, Patrice Rushen, John Scofield, Grover Washington Jr., and more. Recently, she has concentrated her efforts on producing, songwriting, and arranging with various artists including Gino Vannelli, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Siedah Garrett, and Danish Pop Singers Stig Rossen and Monique. Her latest production of Dianne Reeves new CD "That Day" hovered at the top of the charts for many months. Terri was also the house drummer on the late night TV show, "VIBE", hosted by Sinbad. In 1998, she recorded, along with Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Kathleen Battle, and Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock's recent tribute to George Gershwin, "Gershwin's World". Also, Terri was one of four featured artists honoring Louie Bellson, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Max Roach at the American Drummers Achievement Awards hosted by Bill Cosby.
