Out There With Betty Carter

Betty Carter

Arguably the most adventurous female jazz singer of all time, Betty Carter was an idiosyncratic stylist and a restless improviser who pushed the limits of melody and harmony as much as any bebop horn player. The husky-voiced Carter was capable of radical, off-the-cuff reworkings of whatever she sang, abruptly changing tempos and dynamics, or rearranging the lyrics into distinctive, off-the-beat rhythmic patterns. She could solo for 20 minutes, scat at lightning speed, or drive home an emotion with wordless, bluesy moans and sighs. For your listening pleasure again and again.

“Here is a gal who can literally transform her vocal chords into an instrument –a tenor sax, a trumpet, or a trombone- when-ever she wills it on or the occasion demands... never, never disrupting or marring the intrinsic musio-lyrical beauty of her reading.”
- Dave Clark

Tracklisting:

1. You're Driving Me Crazy (W.Donaldson) 1:46
2. I Can't Help It (B.Carter) 2:45
3. By The Bend Of The River (Edwards-Haigh) 2:06
4. Bab's Blues (Weston-Hendricks) 2:47
5. Foul Play (N.Map) 2:20
6. You're Getting To Be A Habit (Warren-Dubin) 2:29
7. On The Isle Of May (David-Kostelanetz) 2:02
8. But Beautiful (Van Heusen-Burke) 3:56
9. All l've Got (D.Cole) 2:13
10. Make It Last (Paxton-Haynes) 4:27
11. Blue Bird Of Happiness (Heyman-Harmati) 1:30
12. Something Wonderful (Rodgers-Hammerstein) 3:34

Tracks #1-6: Kenny Dorham, Ray Copeland (tp), Melba Liston (tb), Tommy Gryce, Jimmy Powell (as), Benny Golston (ts), Sahib Shihab (bars), Wynton Kelly (p), Sam Jones, Peck Morrison (b), Specs Wright (d), Betty Carter (vcl).

#7-12: Ray Copeland (tp), Melba Liston (tb), Jerome Richardson (ts,fl,basson), Wynton Kelly (p), Peck Morrison (b), Specs Wright (d), Betty Carter (vcl)

Recorded in New York City, February 1958.