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"The King at Midpoint: Benny Carter"


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Benny Carter led an extraordinarily long life in jazz; as his biographer pointed out, he was probably the only musician who both recorded into an acoustic horn and surfed his own website. Big-band veteran and arranger, author of jazz standards such as “When Lights Are Low” and “Blues in My Heart,” pioneer for black composers in Hollywood, master of two instruments (alto sax and trumpet), and inspiration and mentor to many young jazz musicians, Carter came to be known as “the King.”

 

Carter died at the age of 95 in July of 2003, having recorded and performed well into his 80s. This weekend on Night Lights we’ll celebrate his 100th birthday (August 8th) with music from the middle of his career, including records he made with pianists Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson, and Art Tatum; his 1946 big band; songs he wrote and either arranged or performed on for vocalists Julia Lee and Sarah Vaughan; and music that he scored for film and television. The program airs tonight at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville, as well as 10 p.m. EST Sunday evening on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. It will be posted for online listening Monday morning in the new Night Lights archives.

 

We've also posted a video of Carter and Coleman Hawkins performing "Blue Lou" from a JATP performance at the bottom of the show's info page.

 

Next week: "The Duke Pearson Songbook."

Edited by ghost of miles
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