Topic: Betty Carter

[nichi]

Amazon
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With a gaspingly smokin' back-up trio.
Warning: jazz, real jazz

[Michael]

That's was good - great singing.

[Nichi]

That's was good - great singing.

She was so underrated in her lifetime, appreciated by a small jazz following.

The music business didn't seem to know how to promo her. She was too knowlegeable, clean, and meticulous to be compared to Billy Holiday,  and too free to be compared to Ella Fitzgerald. At one point she was called "be-bop", but her renderings were never really that commercial.

She was a perfectionist and an arranger, and one of those whose voice was used like an instrument. 

[Nichi]

Found a beautiful recording on YT, but I'm not going to embed it so as to not draw attention to it by the powers that be. It has been uploaded to YT several times over the years, and taken down for copyright violations several times. Here's the link:


http://youtu.be/hV4YdmpfI28

This is Betty Carter in "The Cosby Show", back in the 80's.

The premise in the episode was that one of Cosby's daughters and her friends were taking voice lessons from a character played by Betty Carter. At the end, the whole family and the girls go to hear the voice instructor at a jazz club. Towards the end of the number, the girls put on a harmony...

The individual who put this up on yt changed the name of the song a bit, and only included the audio, which is enchanting.  I'm sure this was to avoid detection by the copyright police. Alas, she added a lot of sexy images, which are a bit cheesy, so if you listen, close your eyes!

[Michael]

Listened while browsing - very nice voice.

[Nichi]

I also found a full concert by her from 1993, apparently uploaded from a dvd. It is almost 2 hours long, and so far I've only been able to get through 1/2 hr. It is really amazing. She has some primo musicians with her.

But you must have a liking for jazz...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD36b5lq_Vg

[Nichi]

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[Nichi]

Look What I Got
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https://youtu.be/JQZDuohot48

You'll need headphones for good sound.
I love the progression and arrangement of this song.

[Michael]

Enjoyed those....

[Nichi]

Giant Steps
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[Michael]

Nice stuff - esp the pianist.

[Nichi]

Nice stuff - esp the pianist.

That's Geri Allen - she has her own jazz ensemble these days.

This number is pretty amazing - they were working without a monitor, so Betty couldn't really hear herself. Makes it hard, especially with her style.