Music for Abolition: Artist Panel

Music for Abolition, directed and curated by Terri Lyne Carrington, is a project bringing together musicians across a variety of genres to create a soundtrack—and provide a heartbeat—to our shared struggle for abolition. Expressing grief, rage, exhaustion, and resolution in the face of the U.S. history of racism and oppression, the music resonates with calls of freedom.

Join us May 18 for a conversation about the role of sound and music in the struggle for prison abolition with the participating musicians, including Lisa Fischer, Kris Davis, Val Jeanty, Lily Finnegan, Maimouna Youssef aka “Mumu Fresh”, Queen Cora Coleman, Nicholas Payton, Jason Moran, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Nicole Mitchell, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Orrin Evans, Eric Revis, Elena and Samara Pinderhughes, José James, Dianne Reeves, Camila Cortina Bello, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science. 

Music for Abolition videos can be found here.

Terri Lyne Carrington

Three-time GRAMMY® award-winning drummer, producer, educator and activist, Terri Lyne Carrington started her professional career as a “kid wonder” while studying under a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the mid ’80’s she worked as an in-demand drummer in New York before gaining national recognition on late night TV as the house drummer for both the Arsenio Hall Show and Quincy Jones’ VIBE TV show.

In 2019 Ms. Carrington was granted the Doris Duke Artist Award, a prestigious acknowledgement in recognition of her past and ongoing contributions to jazz music. Her current band project, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science (a collaboration with Aaron Parks and Matthew Stevens), released their debut album, Waiting Game, in November, 2019 on Motema Music.