Betty Carter

Here we have a singer that I have heard of but not actually listened to....Its a voice and style that takes a bit of getting used to but well worth the effort of listening and hearing this L/P all the way through....Live performance at its best and I wish I had listened earlier in my musical life !

Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1930 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative interpretation of lyrics and melodies. Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked: "There's really only one jazz singer—only one: Betty Carter.

Influenced by the improvisational nature of bebop and inspired by vocalists Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, Carter strove to create a style of her own. Lionel Hampton asked Carter to join his band in 1948; however, her insistence on improvising annoyed Hampton and prompted him to fire her seven times in two and a half years. Carter left Hampton’s band for good in 1951 and performed around the country in such jazz clubs as Harlem’s Apollo Theater and the Vanguard in New York, the Showboat in Philadelphia, and Blues Alley in Washington, D.C., with such jazz artists as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, and Thelonious Monk.

Arguably the most adventurous female jazz singer of all time, Betty Carter was an idiosyncratic stylist and a restless improviser who pushed the limits of melody and harmony as much as any bebop horn player. The husky-voiced Carter was capable of radical, off-the-cuff reworkings of whatever she sang, abruptly changing tempos and dynamics, or rearranging the lyrics into distinctive, off-the-beat rhythmic patterns. She could solo for 20 minutes, scat at lightning speed, or drive home an emotion with wordless, bluesy moans and sighs.....(Info Edited From Wikipedia & Steve Huey of AllMusic)

1. Seems Like Old Times / I Remember You / You Forgot

2. Blue Moon

3. Sun Died

4. I Only Have Eyes For You

5. Body And Soul / Heart And Soul

1. I Didn't Know What Time It Was / All The Things You Are

2. Girl Talk

3. You're a Sweetheart

4. Ego

5. All through The Day

         6. I Did'nt Know What Time It Was / All The Things You Are