ghost of miles Posted March 8, 2008 Report Posted March 8, 2008 (edited) One of the most expressive and original singers to come out of the post-World War II era, Betty Carter thrilled audiences with her daring vocal improvisations and her no-nonsense jazz attitude. She emerged from the Detroit bebop scene and joined Lionel Hampton’s big band in 1948, then went on to record sporadically throughout the 1950s and 1960s, making her biggest mark through a duets album with Ray Charles. After taking several years off to raise her children, Carter returned at the end of the 1960s and assumed more control over her recordings, releasing several of them on her own Bet-Car label; at the same time she expanded her creative powers, taking greater liberties with song form and rhythm. Some even began to consider her avant-garde (and Cecil Taylor counted himself among her fans), but Carter won a wider following even as she remained fiercely committed to her independent vision of jazz singing. Above all, she thought of herself as a musician, once saying, “When it’s all over for me, I would like it said that Betty Carter was not just a singer, but a jazz musician AND a singer.” Look What I Got: Betty Carterfeatures early Carter recordings such as “Social Call” and “Two Cigarettes in the Dark” along with “Open the Door” (used in the film American Beauty), music from the critically-acclaimed The Audience With Betty Carter, and more. The program airs this evening at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville; it also airs Sunday evening at 10 EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. It will be posted for online listening Monday morning at the program link in the Night Lights archives. (If you follow the program link, you can watch Carter performing her composition "Tight" on The David Sanborn Show.) Listeners interested in Carter should check out William Bauer’s excellent biography, Open the Door: the Life and Music of Betty Carter. Next week: "Jazz Flower Power: the Charles Lloyd Quartet." Edited January 31, 2009 by ghost of miles Quote
ghost of miles Posted March 10, 2008 Author Report Posted March 10, 2008 (edited) Look What I Got: Betty Carter is now posted for online listening in the Night Lights archives. Edited January 31, 2009 by ghost of miles Quote
Lazaro Vega Posted March 13, 2008 Report Posted March 13, 2008 What's on after "Jazz Flower Power"? Quote
ghost of miles Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Posted March 13, 2008 Two reruns: "Mary Lou Williams' The Zodiac Suite" (March 23) and "Emily Remler: a Musical Remembrance" on March 30. Quote
BillF Posted March 13, 2008 Report Posted March 13, 2008 Two reruns: "Mary Lou Williams' The Zodiac Suite" (March 23) and "Emily Remler: a Musical Remembrance" on March 30. I can strongly recommend the Emily Remler show - one of the best Night Lights has done, IMHO. I'd never heard of Emily before (her records seem to have disappeared) and was astounded by her powerful Montgomery-influenced playing and moved by her personal tragedy. My appreciation was further enhanced by looking at the quite plentiful YouTube clips which exist of her. (Makes up for what's happened to the records, I suppose.) Quote
ghost of miles Posted May 16, 2008 Author Report Posted May 16, 2008 (edited) Attention Betty Carter fans: Stevebop's Jazz From Studio 4 will be featuring her recordings tonight on WGBH. I'm hoping to tune in for some of the four-hour fiesta (gotta admit to having a bit of format envy!). Edited May 16, 2008 by ghost of miles Quote
ghost of miles Posted January 31, 2009 Author Report Posted January 31, 2009 We're re-airing Look What I Got: Betty Carter this weekend on Night Lights, but it is already archived for online listening. Quote
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