Betty Carter biography

Betty Carter (May 16, 1930 – September 26, 1998) was a prominent American jazz singer who was renowned for her improvisational techniques. Betty Carter expanded the role of the vocalist in Jazz, to a full, improvising member of the band. Although her voice was not as admired by the public as such vocalists as Sarah Vaughn or Ella Fitzgerald, many consider her to have exercised mastery of the human voice previously unheard in Jazz.

Betty Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones in Flint, Michigan and grew up in Detroit, where her father led a church choir. She studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory. She won a talent contest and became a regular on the local club circuit, singing and playing piano. When Betty Carter was sixteen, she sang with Charlie Parker. She later performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and toured with Lionel Hampton, (from whom she received the nickname "Betty Bepop") where she perfected her scat singing of bebop.

Betty Carter`s career eclipsed somewhat during the 1960s and 1970s, but a series of duets with Ray Charles brought her a measure of popular recognition. She was well-received at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1977 and 1978. Carter won a Grammy in 1988 for her album Look What I Got.

In 1993, Betty Carter helped launch the Jazz Ahead program for young musicians at the Kennedy Center. In 1994, Betty Carter performed at the White House was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall.

In 1997, Betty Carter was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President President Clinton. Betty Carter remained active until her death in 1998 at age 69 from pancreatic cancer.

Kennedy Center: Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead
Link to Real Player interviews about Carter, her influence and contribution to jazz. Betty Carter, who possessed one of this era's most extraordinary voices, was.


Betty Carter
Betty Carter, to me the best singer who ever lived, was taken from us in September. Unofficial Betty Carter Home Page. NBC Studio Noir Page. Article by.


Jazz: Carter
Brief profile of vocalist Carter, also known as "Betty Be-bop". Betty Carter. 51 she toured with Lionel Hampton (where she was nicknamed Betty "Bebop" Carter).


Betty Carter Homepage
Page devoted to the last great jazz diva. Biography, extensive. of the late 20th century, Betty Carter represented all that was right with jazz singing.


Betty Carter Page in Fuller Up, The Dead Musicians Directory
A Dead Musician Directory Celebrity Page. Includes Obituary, Biography, and Links. Betty Carter, 68, one of the great jazz singers, a link with the legends of an.


Betty Carter - Verve Records
. scat), but it stuck, and ultimately she changed her stage name to Betty Carter. The album, Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant, was little received, and.


Betty Carter
This site offers contemporary and historic information and images concerning the. The bitch is that I've been Betty Carter, that I'm seeking to be as creative as.


Remembering Betty Carter
. essentials of authentic jazz, Carter maintained an uncompromising musical vision. the death of singer Betty Carter (age 69) from pancreatic cancer