Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 19, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative interpretation of lyrics and melodies. Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked: "There's really only one jazz singer—only one: Betty Carter.
The 1960s became an increasingly difficult time for Carter as she began to slip in fame, refusing to sing contemporary pop music, and her youth fading. Carter was nearly forty years old, which at the time was not conducive to a career in the public eye. Rock and roll, like pop, was steadily becoming more popular and provided cash flow for labels and recording companies. Carter had to work extremely hard to continue to book gigs because of the jazz decline. Her marriage also was beginning to crumble. By 1971, Carter was single and mainly performing live with a small group consisting of merely a piano, drums, and a bass. The Betty Carter trio was one of very few jazz groups to continue to book gigs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
( Info Edited From Wikipedia )
Scott Yanow, writing on Allmusic.com gave 'Round Midnight two and a half stars out of five. Yanow commented of Carter in this period: "Her chance-taking style and unusual voice were mostly ignored and it would not be until the late '70s that she was finally 'discovered.' ...Her style was a lot freer than it had been in her earlier records but was still more accessible than it would be. Her repertoire" at the time "was already becoming eclectic."
An interesting early album from Betty Carter – less jazz than some of her later work, but with a bit more of an edge than some of her ABC recordings. The album's got sort of an arranged sophisticated jazz style – in the mode of 60s work by Esther Phillips or Dinah Washington – and Betty handles some wonderful material with a dark edge, like "Two Cigarettes In The Dark", "Nothing More To Look Forward To", "Round Midnight", "I Wonder", "Who What Why Where When", and "The Good Life", all done in a sorrow-drenched style that's incredibly compelling, and a very different side to Betty's career. ( Info Edited 1996-2020, Dusty Groove, Inc. )
1. Nothing More To look Forward To
2. Who What Why Where When
3. Heart And Soul
4. Call Me Darling
5. When I fall in love
1. Round Midnight
2. I Wonder
3.Theme From Dr Kildare
4. The Good Life
5. Everybody's Somebody's Fool
6. Two Cigarettes In The Dark
3. Heart And Soul
😊 !
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