Betty Carter

Betty Carter (May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was a prominent American jazz singer, who was renowned for her improvisational techniques. 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. Image File history File links BettyCarter. ... Image File history File links BettyCarter. ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... Simon Le Bon lead singer of Duran Duran in concert, 2003. ... Sarah Vaughan (March 27, 1924 - April 3, 1990) is considered by some to be one of the greatest female jazz singers in the history of the genre, along with Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. ... Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as Lady Ella (the First Lady of Song), was one of the most important jazz singers of the 20th Century, the winner of thirteen Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Art presented by President Reagan and the Presidential Medal...

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 she 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. The arches of downtown Flint. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor... Charlie Parker Charles Christopher Parker, Jr. ... Dizzy Gillespie photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955 John Birks Dizzy Gillespie (October 21, 1917 - January 6, 1993) was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. ... Davis 1959 album Kind of Blue, likely the best-selling jazz album ever. ... Lionel Hampton with George W. Bush Lionel Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002), was a bandleader, jazz percussionist and vibraphone virtuoso. ... Scat singing is vocalizing either wordlessly or with nonsense words and syllables as employed by jazz singers who create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using only the voice. ... Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ...

Her 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. Ray Charles at the piano. ... The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every August in Newport, Rhode Island. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music...

In 1993, Carter helped launch the Jazz Ahead program for young musicians at the Kennedy Center. In 1994, she performed at the White House was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall. The Kennedy Center as seen from the Potomac River. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Verve Records was an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Manhattan, New York City. ...

In 1997, she was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President President Clinton. Carter remained active until her death in 1998 at age 69 from pancreatic cancer. The National Medal of Arts is an award and title bestowed on selected honorees by the National Endowment for the Arts. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe, III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Pancreatic cancer (also called cancer of the pancreas) is represented by the growth of a malignant tumour within the small pancreas organ. ...

Selected Discography

Columbia

• 1955 Social Call

Verve

• 1958 I Can't Help It
• 1970 At The Village Vanguard
• 1979 The Audience With Betty Carter
• 1988 Look What I Got
• 1990 Droppin' Things
• 1992 It's Not About The Melody
• 1993 Feed The Fire
• 1996 I'm Yours, You're Mine

Verve Records was an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ...

External links

• Brief profile (VH1)
• Longer profile
• Obituary