Betty Carter

Avid Jazz presents four classic Betty Carter albums , including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”; “Out There”; “The Modern Sound Of Betty Carter” and “Ray Charles and Betty Carter”
Introducing two new artists-two debut recording sessions….”Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”. Ray Bryant, a new talent with an inventive piano style both as stylist and accompanist. Betty Carter, also a new talent with “a new approach to interpreting lyrics and a supple voice making old melodies sound fresh all over again”. As the original liner notes testify…” with this collection Betty Carter and Ray Bryant make their recording debuts with forceful and individual performances that mark them as important new names in jazz”…

This collection of Betty Carter's Verve material may not literally be her finest hour of recorded music, but it is easily her finest hour of recordings for the labels associated with Verve, which include not only her later Verve recordings, but also those on ABC from the early 1960s. There are 14 cuts on the set, including such well-known Carter performances as "In the Still of the Night," her theme, "Open the Door" "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "Dropping Things," "Tight," "You're Driving Me Crazy," and others. This is a solid selection of Carter's artistry. It's true that she recorded for so many labels that a complete introduction is almost impossible, but this will serve both fans and beginners well.

This unusual CD features the great Betty Carter performing live with the great Carmen McRae, both having fun as they share the spotlight. Betty's voice is higher and sweeter than Carmen's lower, stronger, and more assertive voice, but together they sound like extensions of each other, almost alteregos, as they interact, engage in delightful patter, and joke and obviously mug with the audience. This is a CD for which one yearns for a video, since these two megastars of jazz are so in sync that it's sometimes difficult to tell which one is singing in these unusually long tracks. ~ Amazon Customer's Review

This well-rounded set gives listeners a good look at the adventurous music of Betty Carter. For this CD, she is joined by one of two rhythm sections (with either Benny Green or Stephen Scott on piano) and, on four of the nine songs, tenor saxophonist Don Braden. Carter twists and turns some familiar songs (such as "The Man I Love," "Imagination" and "The Good Life") along with a variety of lesser-known material including two songs of her own.