Betty Carter - Give the Love Around '2017

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Heart and Soul
02. The Good Life
03. Takes Two to Tango
04. Who, What, Why, Where, When
05. Gone with the Wind
06. The Way You Look Tonight
07. Nothing More to Look Forward To
08. Alone Together
09. When I Fall in Love
10. Everybodys Somebodys Fool
11. Round Midnight
12. I Wonder
13. Make It Last
14. Side by Side
15. Something Wonderful
16. Remember
17. Baby, Its Cold Outside
18. Three Stars Will Shine Tonight
19. Two Cigarettes in the Dark
20. Stormy Weather
21. Youre Getting to Be a Habit with Me
22. But Beautiful
23. Jazz Aint Nothin but Soul
24. I Dont Want to Set the World on Fire
25. Call Me Darling


 Read MoreBetty Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones in Flint, MI, on May 16,
1930 (though some sources list 1929 instead). She grew up in Detroit, where her
father worked as a church musical director, and she started studying piano at
the Detroit Conservatory of Music as a child. In high school, she got hooked on
bebop, and at 16 years old, she sat in with Charlie Parker during the
saxophonists Detroit gig. She won a talent contest and became a regular on the
local club circuit, singing and playing piano, and also performed with the likes
of Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, and Billy Eckstine when they passed through
Detroit. When Lionel Hampton came to town in 1948, he hired her as a featured
vocalist. Initially billed as Lorraine Carter, she was soon dubbed Betty Bebop
by Hampton, whose more traditional repertoire didnt always mesh with her
imaginative flights of improvisation. In fact, according to legend, Hampton
fired Carter seven times in two and a half years, rehiring her each time at the
behest of his wife Gladys. Although the Betty Bebop nickname started out as a
criticism, it stuck, and eventually Carter grew accustomed to it, enough to
permanently alter her stage name.

Meet Betty Carter and Ray BryantCarter and Hampton parted ways for good in 1951,
and she hit the jazz scene in New York City, singing with several different
groups over the next few years. She made a few appearances at the Apollo,
performing with bop legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach, and cut her
first album for Columbia in 1955 with pianist Ray Bryant (the aptly titled Meet
Betty Carter and Ray Bryant). A 1956 session with Gigi Gryce went unissued until
1980, and in 1958 she cut two albums, I Cant Help It and Out There, that failed
to attract much notice. She spent 1958 and 1959 on the road with Miles Davis,
who later recommended her as a duet partner to Ray Charles. Carter signed with
ABC-Paramount and recorded The Modern Sound of Betty Carter in 1960, but it
wasnt until she teamed up with Charles in 1961 for the legendary duet album Ray
Charles and Betty Carter that she finally caught the publics ear. A hit with
critics and record buyers alike, Ray Charles and Betty Carter spawned a classic
single in their sexy duet version of Baby, Its Cold Outside, and even though the
album spent years out of print, it only grew in stature as a result.

Inside Betty CarterOddly, in the wake of her breakthrough success, Carter
effectively retired from music for much of the 60s in order to concentrate on
raising her two sons. She did return briefly to recording in 1963 with the Atco
album Round Midnight, which proved too challenging for critics expecting the
smoothness of her work with Charles, and again in 1965 with the brief United
Artists album Inside Betty Carter. Other than those efforts, Carter played only
sporadic gigs around New York, and was mostly forgotten. She attempted a
comeback in 1969 with the live Roulette album Finally; a second album,
confusingly also titled Round Midnight, was released from the same concert.
These two records provided the first indications of what her fully developed
style sounded like, and it wasnt commercial in the least.

At the Village VanguardUnable to interest any record companies, Carter founded
her own label, Bet-Car, and released her music on her own for nearly two
decades. At the Village Vanguard, a live recording made in 1970, is generally
acknowledged as ranking among her best; other 70s albums included The Betty
Carter Album and Now Its My Turn. Carter spent most of the decade touring
extensively to help make ends meet, maintaining a trio that evolved into a
training ground for young jazz musicians; she preferred to hunt for and develop
new talent as a way of keeping her own music fresh and vital. Over the years,
her groups included musicians like pianists Jacky Terrasson, Cyrus Chestnut,
Benny Green, John Hicks, Stephen Scott, and Mulgrew Miller; bassists Dave
Holland, Buster Williams, Curtis Lundy, and Ira Coleman; and drummers Jack
DeJohnette, Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington, and Greg Hutchinson.

The Audience With Betty CarterCarter delivered standout performances at the
Newport Jazz Festival in both 1977 and 1978, setting her on the road to a
comeback. In 1979, she recorded The Audience With Betty Carter, regarded by many
as her finest album and even as a landmark of vocal jazz. 1982 brought a live
album with orchestra backing, Whatever Happened to Love?, and five years later,
she recorded a live duets album with Carmen McRae at San Franciscos Great
American Music Hall. She continued to tour as well, and when Polygrams
reactivated Verve label started signing underappreciated veterans (Abbey
Lincoln, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone, etc.), they gave Carter her first
major-label record deal since the 60s. Verve reissued much of her Bet-Car
output, giving those records far better distribution than theyd ever enjoyed,
and Carter entered the studio to record a brand-new album, Look What I Got,
which was released to excellent reviews in 1988. It also won Carter her first
Grammy, signaling that critics and audiences alike had finally caught up to her
advanced, challenging style.

Droppin ThingsOver the next few years, Carter continued to turn out acclaimed
albums for Verve, winning numerous readers polls with recordings like 1990s
Droppin Things, 1992s Its Not About the Melody, 1994s live Feed the Fire, and
1996s Im Yours, Youre Mine. Additionally, she expanded her interest in
developing new jazz talent through her Jazz Ahead program, which began in 1993
and offered young musicians the chance to workshop with her at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music. She also gave presentations on jazz to students of all ages,
and remained an outspoken critic of the watered-down quality of much
contemporary jazz. She performed at the Lincoln Center in 1993, and the
following year for President Clinton at the White House; three years later, he
presented her with a National Medal of Arts. Carter lost a battle with
pancreatic cancer on September 26, 1998, passing away at her home in the Fort
Greene section of Brooklyn. ~ Steve Huey

Related artists