music I by Jennifer Nesselroad Violinist Extraordinäre It w a s e s c o r t e d t h r o u g h t h e s t r e e t s o f G e n o a , Italy b y the g r o u p o f m u s i c i a n s a n d artists in c h a r g e o f k e e p i n g P a g a n i n i ' s a n d Italy's a r t i s t i c l e g a c y p r e s e r v e d . both p o l i c e a n d a n e n t o u r a g e as I m p r e s s i v e a s t h a t o f t h e of the United States. It h a s a n insurance President untold classical became After a rigorous examination of her skills, questioning J to at perform a jazz benefit hype, policy of millions a n d has only been played by a select f e w m u s i c i a n s . In D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 1 , v i o l i n i s t R e g i n a C a r t e r regarding her a p p r o a c h to the violin a n d even asking the name of her c h i l d h o o d classical m u s i c teacher, Carter w a s invited Cannon' standards and eventually 'The and t h e first j a z z m u s i c i a n a n d first A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n artist t o play the legendary violin o w n e d by the great b a r o q u e violinist, originals on victims Niccolo Paganini. concert honouring the families of September 11th. P a g a n i n i ' s v i o l i n , n i c k n a m e d " T h e C a n n o n " f o r its d e e p - t o n e d and booming sound was crafted in 1743 by master The D e c e m b e r concert b e c a m e a media event, publications ranging from The New r e p o r t e d in Oprah York Times to v i o l i n m a k e r G u a r n e r i d e l G e s u . It w a s given to the city of been G e n o a f o l l o w i n g P a g a n i n i ' s d e a t h i n 1 8 4 0 , a n d it h a s m a i n t a i n e d a n d preserved by t h e city since t h a t t i m e . M a g a z i n e a n d f e a t u r e d in a 6 0 M i n u t e s II b r o a d c a s t . W i t h all of the media Carter became so nervous she had n i g h t m a r e s of d r o p p i n g the priceless instrument a n d breaking A t first, m a n y in t h e c o m m u n i t y o p p o s e d a j a z z musician the The concert w a s so well received, Carter d e c i d e d to c o m e back to record an a l b u m o n the instrument. Despite her success, Carter had m a n y of the same obstacles to earlier overcome it. T h e c o n c e r t w e n t w e l l , h o w e v e r , a n d C a r t e r a n d h e r b a n d received a s t a n d i n g o v a t i o n a n d rave reviews. playing "profane" m u s i c o n s u c h a h e r a l d e d i n s t r u m e n t . It took three m o n t h s of negotiation to w i n approval from Italian g o v e r n m e n t , the P a g a n i n i C o m m i s s i o n ( m a d e u p of v i o l i n m a k e r s a n d e x p e r t t e c h n i c i a n s in c h a r g e o f k e e p i n g t h e violin preserved), a n d t h e P a g a n i n i Institute, a large a n d diverse 4 M a r c h I A p r i l