Yu Ooka

Betty Bryant: Lotta Livin'

by Jack Bowers
February 8, 2024

First, double-check to make sure there aren't any misprints. No, it's an honest-to-goodness fact that Betty Bryant--who sings, plays piano, wrote four of the nine numbers and arranged half a dozen on her fourteenth album--really was almost ninety-four years old when Lotta Livin' was recorded in 2023. Bryant's rough and edgy voice is remarkably strong and steady, while her piano playing simply defies any generational labels. As a vocalist, no note seems out of her reach, and ...