Regina Carter was born in Detroit, Michigan August 6, 1966 and is an American jazz violinist. She began as a classical violinist but became increasingly interested in jazz , and is considered one of the finest violinists in the genre. Carter received a degree in music from Oakland University and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston before forging her jazz career. Establishing herself as a force in the jazz world on the violin, she played a concert in Genoa in 2006 on Il Cannone Guarnerius, once owned and favored by Niccolò Paganini. She later recorded Paganini: After a Dream for Verve Records on this violin that was made in 1743.