Artist:Betty Carter & Ray BryantSong:Moonlight In Vermont
Album:Meet Betty Carter And Ray Bryant/Little Susie
Betty Carter was one of the all time great jazz singers and probably the first to emerge from the bebop era. She was born Lillie Mae Jones May 16, 1930 in Flint, MI and grew up in Detroit. Her father was a church musical director so she sang in church and studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory Of Music. She got hooked on bebop and at age 16 sat in with Charlie Parker when he played Detroit. Lionel Hampton hired her in 1948 and billed her as Lorraine Carter. Things didn't always go smoothly with Hampton. He dubbed her Betty Bebop as she was likely too adventurous for him. He fired her several times but Hampton's wife Gladys always got him to rehire her. Betty left Hampton's band in 1951 and moved to New York. Meet Betty Carter And Ray Bryant was her 1955 debut. This album still sounds great today with Ray Bryant on piano, Jerome Richardson on flute & sax, Wendell Marshall on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Columbia released the album on CD in 1996 with seven bonus tracks but Collectibles has issued it as a twofer with the 1959 Ray Bryant album Little Susie. And that album isn't otherwise available. Take your pick. Betty Carter moved to ABC-Paramount in 1960 and did several successful recordings with Ray Charles. She semi-retired from the music business to raise her two sons but returned in the 70s and continued to record regularly until her death on Sept. 26, 1998 at age 68. Here's Betty Carter performing Tight on David Sanborn's Night Moves TV show in 1989.
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