Results for "Betty Carter"

Betty Carter

Betty Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones in Flint, Michigan, on May 16, 1930. At a young age, she began the study of piano at the Detroit Conservatory of Music, and by the time she was a teenager she was slready sitting in with Charlie Parker and other bop musicians when they performed in Detroit. After winning a local amateur contest, she turned professional at age 16, hooking up with the Lionel Hampton band by 1948, billed as Lorraine Carter. Hampton was the man who hung the nickname 'Betty Be-Bop' on her (a nickname she hated, as she found bebop limiting and wanted to do more than just scat), but it stuck, and ultimately she changed her stage name to Betty Carter

John Lewis @ 100 and More May Birthdays

By MARC COHN

May birthdays this week on G&M! Some big ones (of course): the John Lewis centennial, Dave McKenna @ 90, Arthur Blythe and Carlos Ward @ 80. It's also Stevie Wonder's 70th this month, and May celebrant salutes are in the house (Theo Hill, Ronnie Foster, Mel Lewis, and Groove Holmes) doing 'Wonderful' tunes. We also celebrate ...

The Music Never Stops: Tales of Wonder and Ms. B.C.

By MARY FOSTER CONKLIN

This week we focus on new releases from pianist Danny Green's band LP and the Vinyl, vocalist Linda Purl, saxophonist Brian Landrus, the duo Const, plus a Stevie Wonder tribute by various Posi-Tone artists for his 70th birthday and a special single from Cynthia Scott, with more birthday shoutouts to lyricist Betty Comden and Betty Carter ...

Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records: Ten High Altitude Albums

By CHRIS MAY

Bob Thiele is best remembered for his years as the artistic director and house producer of Impulse!. He took over from founder producer Creed Taylor in 1961 and stayed with the label until 1969, when he left to run his own Flying Dutchman Records. Thiele's tenure at Impulse! was its most glorious period, when Thiele curated ...

Space Is The Place: The Lives And Times Of Sun Ra

By IAN PATTERSON

Space Is The Place: The Lives And Times Of Sun Ra John F. Szwed 512 Pages ISBN: 978-1-4780-0841-5 Duke University Press 2020 Of all the 20th century jazz figures, perhaps only John Coltrane and Miles Davis have achieved greater cult status than Sun Ra. Unlike Coltrane, Ra lived into ...

John Pizzarelli Trio at Keystone Korner

By MARK ROBBINS

From 1972 to 1983 NEA Jazz Master's award recipient Todd Barkan operated jny:San Francisco's Keystone Korner as one the preeminent jazz clubs in the country. Performers such as Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Betty Carter, McCoy Tyner and so many more played on the Korner's stage until, due to financial difficulties, Barkan had to close ...

Pharoah Sanders: Live In Paris (1975)

By CHRIS MAY

Pharoah Sanders' catalogue of newly-discovered album releases is expanding as fast as those of his fellow travellers Alice Coltrane and John Coltrane. Which is great, but... most of the albums were recorded live, sometimes with poor audio capture, and do not always find the musicians at their best. You have to pick and choose between them. ...

JD Walter: Dressed in a Song

By VICTOR L. SCHERMER

JD Walter is a consummate vocalist who has devoted himself over many years to evolving a unique style that is nevertheless ensconced in the jazz tradition. The public relations sheet for this new CD states that “this is his first release since recovering from a life-threatening heart condition and surgeries on his heart and vocal cords." ...

Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim: A Musical Love Story and a Timeless Recording

By VICTOR L. SCHERMER

One of my all-time favorite albums and desert island picks is Elis and Tom (Phillips, 1974), featuring duets by the legendary Antonio Carlos “Tom" Jobim and Elis Regina, an iconic Brazilian singer lesser known in the U.S. who a few years later died of a drug overdose at the age of 36. I'm writing about it ...

Big Long Silidin' Thing - Celebrating Melba Liston

By MARY FOSTER CONKLIN

In the first hour, we celebrate trombonist, composer and arranger Melba Liston in honor of her birthday, and take a look at some recent trombone players making noise in the jazz world. We sample some new releases by vocalists Josephine Beavers, Lila Ammons, Virginia Schenck, flutist Andrea Brachfeld and pianist Roberta Piket, with birthday shout outs ...