Sarah VAUGHAN

⬇️ SARAH VAUGHAN ⬇️

(Sarah Lois Vaughan)

DISCOGRAPHY 1947-2021 (154CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

       

Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer, described by music critic Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."

Nicknamed "Sassy", "The Divine One" and "Sailor" (for her salty speech), Sarah Vaughan was a Grammy Award winner. The National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its "highest honor in jazz", the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989.

Sarah Vaughan's father, Asbury "Jake" Vaughan, was a carpenter by trade and played guitar and piano. Her mother, Ada Vaughan, was a laundress and sang in the church choir.

Jake and Ada Vaughan had migrated to Newark from Virginia during the First World War. Sarah was their only biological child, although in the 1960s they adopted Donna, the child of a woman who traveled on the road with Sarah Vaughan..... (Wikipedia)

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CHRONOGICAL CLASSICS

CC 1101-Sarah Vaughan (1947-49) @FLAC

CC 1166-Sarah Vaughan (1949-50) @FLAC

CC 1296-Sarah Vaughan (1951-52) @FLAC

Nina SIMONE

⬇️ NINA SIMONE ⬇️

(Eunice Kathleen Waymon)

(February 21, 1933 - April 21, 2003)

DISCOGRAPHY 1957-2025 (162CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop.

The sixth of eight children born into a poor family in North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where, despite a well received audition, she was denied admission, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.

To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist.

She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She released her first hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice .... (Wikipedia)

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1964-In Concert [LP-Verve) @FLAC24-192

1978-Baltimore (LP) @FLAC24-192

1998-The Very Best Of Nina Simone (1967-72) Sugar In My Bowl (2CD) @FLAC

2003-Anthology @FLAC

2003-Simply Simone (CD) @FLAC

2012-At the Village Gate (CD-14T) @FLAC

2013-Nina At Newport (Jazz & Blues) @FLAC24-96

2015-The Hits @FLAC24-96

2019-Feeling Good The Very Best Of Nina Simone @FLAC

2025-Nina at Newport (Remastered) @FLAC24

2025-The Best Of Nina Simone (Mississippi River Records) (3CD) @FLAC24

VERVE JAZZ MASTERS

VJM 17 - Nina Simone-Bad Habits @FLAC

Helen HUMES

⬇️ HELEN HUMES ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY 1947-2024 (36CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

        

Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 – September 9, 1981) was an American jazz and blues singer.

Humes was successively a teenage blues singer, band vocalist with Count Basie, saucy R&B diva and a mature interpreter of the classy popular song.

Humes was born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, was spotted by the guitarist Sylvester Weaver and made her first recordings in 1927, her true young voice consorting oddly with bizarre material like "Garlic Blues".

She moved to New York City in 1937 and became a recording vocalist with Harry James' big band. Her swing recordings with James included "Jubilee", "I Can Dream Can't I", Jimmy Dorsey's composition "It's The Dreamer In Me", and "Song of the Wanderer"..... (Wikipedia)

Billie HOLIDAY

⬇️ BILLIE HOLIDAY ⬇️

(Eleanora Fagan)

DISCOGRAPHY 1937-2022 (299CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

        

Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years.

Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.

Holiday was known for her vocal delivery and improvisation skills, which made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education. While there were other jazz singers with equal talent, Billie Holiday had a voice that captured the attention of her audience..... (Wikipedia)

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1999-The Billy Holiday Collection (2CD) @FLAC

2003-Blue Moon @FLAC

2017-Classic Lady Day (5CD) @FLAC

Mahalia JACKSON

⬇️ MAHALIA JACKSON ⬇️

(Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 - January 27, 1972)

DISCOGRAPHY 1955-2021 (78LP/CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Mahalia Jackson (born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 - January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world.

The granddaughter of enslaved people, Jackson was born and raised in poverty in New Orleans. She found a home in her church, leading to a lifelong dedication and singular purpose to deliver God's word through song. She moved to Chicago as an adolescent and joined the Johnson Singers, one of the earliest gospel groups. Jackson was heavily influenced by musician-composer Thomas Dorsey, and by blues singer Bessie Smith, adapting Smith's style to traditional Protestant hymns and contemporary songs. After making an impression in Chicago churches, she was hired to sing at funerals, political rallies, and revivals. For 15 years she functioned as what she termed a "fish and bread singer", working odd jobs between performances to make a living.

Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of "Move On Up a Little Higher", selling two million copies and hitting the number two spot on Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music. Jackson's recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. She regularly appeared on television and radio, and performed for many presidents and heads of state, including singing the national anthem at John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Ball in 1961. Motivated by her experiences living and touring in the South and integrating a Chicago neighborhood, she participated in the civil rights movement, singing for fundraisers and at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. She was a vocal and loyal supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and a personal friend of his family.

Throughout her career Jackson faced intense pressure to record secular music, but turned down high paying opportunities to concentrate on gospel. Completely self-taught, Jackson had a keen sense of instinct for music, her delivery marked by extensive improvisation with melody and rhythm. She was renowned for her powerful contralto voice, range, an enormous stage presence, and her ability to relate to her audiences, conveying and evoking intense emotion during performances. Passionate and at times frenetic, she wept and demonstrated physical expressions of joy while singing.

Her success brought about international interest in gospel music, initiating the "Golden Age of Gospel" making it possible for many soloists and vocal groups to tour and record. Popular music as a whole felt her influence and she is credited with inspiring rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singing styles ... (Wikipedia)

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ESSENTIAL CLASSICS

Vol. 457 Mahalia Jackson (2CD) @FLAC

Carmen McRAE

⬇️ CARMEN McRAE ⬇️
(Carmen Mercedes McRae)
DISCOGRAPHY 1954-2020 (97CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

        

Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable.

McRae drew inspiration from Billie Holiday, but established her own distinctive voice. She went on to record over 60 albums, enjoying a rich musical career, performing and recording in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

McRae was born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrant parents, Osmond and Evadne McRae. She began studying piano when she was eight, and the music of jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington filled her home.....

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ESSENTIAL CLASSICS

Vol. 287 Carmen McRae (2CD) @FLAC

Abbey LINCOLN

 ⬇️ ABBEY LINCOLN ⬇️

(Anna Marie Wooldridge)

DISCOGRAPHY 1960-2023 (51LP/CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards, as well as writing and singing her own material.

Born on August 6, 1930, in Chicago, but raised in Calvin Center, Cass County, Michigan, Lincoln was one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. Lincoln's 1956 debut album, Abbey Lincoln's Affair... A Story of a Girl in Love, was followed by a series of albums for Riverside Records.

In 1960, she sang on Max Roach's landmark civil rights-themed recording We Insist! (subtitled Freedom Now Suite), "regarded as the earliest full-scale protest record in jazz", as historian Nat Hentoff observed. Lincoln's lyrics were often connected to the civil rights movement in America. In 1970, the short film Max and Abbey profiled Lincoln as a composer, vocalist, actress, writer, and activist, as well as Roach's creative partner. Stan Lathan directed the documentary, broadcast on Black Journal.

After a tour of Africa in the mid-1970s, she adopted the name Aminata Moseka.

During the 1980s, Lincoln's creative output was smaller and she released only a few albums. Her song "For All We Know" is featured in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. During the 1990s and until her death, she fulfilled a 10-album contract with Verve Records.

These albums are highly regarded and represent a crowning achievement in Lincoln's career. Devil's Got Your Tongue (1992) featured Rodney Kendrick, Grady Tate, Yoron Israel, J.J. Johnson, Stanley Turrentine, Babatunde Olatunji and The Staple Singers, among others. In 2003, Lincoln received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award.

Her lyrics often reflected the ideals of the civil rights movement and helped in generating passion for the cause in the minds of her listeners. In addition to her musical career, she ventured into acting as well and appeared in movies such as The Girl Can't Help It (1958), Nothing But a Man (1964) and For Love of Ivy (1968). Lincoln explored more philosophical themes during the later years of her songwriting career and remained professionally active until well into her seventies. She often visited the Blue Note jazz club in New York City.... (Wikipedia)

Dinah WASHINGTON

⬇️ DINAH WASHINGTON ⬇️

(Ruth Lee Jones)
DISCOGRAPHY 1951-2022 (144CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

       

Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones (August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963), was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s".

Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, and gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues".

She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.....

Ruth Lee Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Alice Jones, and moved to Chicago as a child. She became deeply involved in gospel and played piano for the choir in St. Luke's Baptist Church while still in elementary school. She sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and being a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers. When she joined the Sallie Martin group, she dropped out of Phillips High School. She sang lead with the first female gospel singers formed by Ms. Martin, who was co-founder of the Gospel Singers Convention. Her involvement with the gospel choir occurred after she won an amateur contest at Chicago's Regal Theater where she sang "I Can't Face the Music".

After winning a talent contest at the age of 15, she began performing in clubs. By 1941–42 she was performing in such Chicago clubs as Dave's Café and the Downbeat Room of the Sherman Hotel (with Fats Waller). She was playing at the Three Deuces, a jazz club, when a friend took her to hear Billie Holiday at the Garrick Stage Bar. Club owner Joe Sherman was so impressed with her singing of "I Understand", backed by the Cats and the Fiddle, who were appearing in the Garrick's upstairs room, that he hired her.

During her year at the Garrick – she sang upstairs while Holiday performed in the downstairs room – she acquired the name by which she became known. She credited Joe Sherman with suggesting the change from Ruth Jones, made before Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah at the Garrick.[6] Hampton's visit brought an offer, and Washington worked as his female band vocalist after she had sung with the band for its opening at the Chicago Regal Theatre..... (Wikipedia)

Diane SCHUUR

⬇️ DIANE SCHUUR ⬇️

DISCOGRAPHY 1984-2020 (22CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

       

Diane Schuur (b. December 10, 1953 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American jazz singer and pianist.

Nicknamed "Deedles", she has won two Grammy Awards, headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall and The White House and has toured the world performing with such greats as Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, B. B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Joe Williams and Stevie Wonder. Like Stevie Wonder, Schuur was blinded at birth due to retinopathy of prematurity.

Diane Schuur grew up in suburban Seattle, Washington and was encouraged by both her parents to sing. She started singing when she was two-and-a-half, and by age nine, was getting professional gigs.

She has said that as a small child she would often retreat to the closet to be alone with herself and sing. Her early childhood music heroines were Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington.....

Dee Dee BRIDGEWATER

⬇️DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER⬇️
(Denise Eileen Garrett)
DISCOGRAPHY 1974-2011 (21CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

       

Dee Dee Bridgewater (born May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater. She is a United Nations Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Born Denise Eileen Garrett in Memphis, Tennessee, she was raised Catholic in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his playing, she was exposed to jazz early on.

At the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock and rhythm'n'blues trio, singing in clubs in Michigan.

At 18, she studied at the Michigan State University before she went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. With their jazz band, she toured the Soviet Union in 1969....

Diana KRALL

⬇️ DIANA KRALL ⬇️
(Diana Jean Krall)
DISCOGRAPHY 1993-2017 (42CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 
       

Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals.

She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide.

On December 11, 2009, Billboard magazine named her the second Jazz artist of the 2000–09 decade, establishing her as one of the best-selling artists of her time. She is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums.

To date, she has won two Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards. She has also earned nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums......

Patricia BARBER

⬇️ PATRICIA BARBER ⬇️

DISCOGRAPHY 1989-2013 (30CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

        

Patricia Barber (born November 8, 1955) is an American jazz and blues singer, pianist, songwriter, and bandleader. She was awarded Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003 in Creative Arts – Music Composition field.

Barber was born in Chicago, Illinois to parents who were both professional musicians. Her father, Floyd "Shim" Barber, was a former member of Glenn Miller's band. Barber was raised in South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Her music is centered on her singing, in a fairly low register and a traditional blues-jazz style, and her piano playing, which is technically accomplished. Her repertoire includes original compositions and standards drawn mostly from classic rock, including "Ode to Billie Joe", "A Taste of Honey", and "Black Magic Woman".

Her 2006 album, Mythologies, is a set of songs based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. In 2007, Premonition Records presented The Premonition Years: 1994–2002, a three-CD box set of Barber recordings divided into originals, standards, and pop. The set includes unreleased tracks and selected songs previously released on Cafe Blue, Modern Cool, Companion, Nightclub and Verse. Those five albums have been reissued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab on SACD and limited edition 45 rpm half speed mastered, 180 gram audiophile vinyl.

In September 2008, she released The Cole Porter Mix, a collection of her unique takes on the classic Cole Porter songbook, as well as three original compositions.

Elisabeth KONTOMANOU

⬇️ELISABETH KONTOMANOU⬇️
(5CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Of Greek and African origin, and born in France, Elisabeth Kontomanou has worked with many musicians in both Europe and America, including Sam Newsome, Leon Parker, Michel Legrand, Mike Stern, Alain Jean-Marie.

She first gained recognition at the ‘Concours de La Defense’ and has since been nominated for a Django d’Or Award, following her album ‘Embrace’ released on Steeple Chase in 1999. Acclaimed by the critics for her two latest recordings, she was awarded the ‘Vocal Jazz Award’ of the Victoires du Jazz in 2006. Since then, prefering an intimate style to an extrovert one, and depth to superficial effects, she has performed widely in the most prestigious venues across many continents, such as the Blue Note, the Knitting Factory and the Supper Club.

She has also branched out to both musical cinema (‘Masque de Lune’ by Michel Legrand - 1988) and musical comedy (‘Rag Time’ - 2003). Pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, her long time collaborator, refers to her as “an artist who has that remarkable ability to shake your soul and touch your heart by the very unique nature of her voice. Her presence possesses you right away, instantly taking you to another world, and like Piaf she could sing the phone book and make you cry”.

With her latest album, Siren Song, recorded with the Lorraine National Orchestra, Elisabeth Kontomanou once again immerses herself in the great standard numbers that made jazz famous. Accompanied by three orchestrators - Tom Harrel, Gustav Karlstrom, and Ann-Sofi Sderqvist - she has combined this celebrated repertoire with recent compositions of her own, such as Summer.

Three pieces were composed by her son Gustav Karlstrom.

Etta JONES

⬇️ ETTA JONES ⬇️

DISCOGRAPHY 1960-2021 (28CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings were "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson, Cedar Walton, and Houston Person.

Jones was born in Aiken, South Carolina, and raised in Harlem, New York. Still in her teens, she joined Buddy Johnson's band for a tour although she was not featured on record. Her first recordings—"Salty Papa Blues", "Evil Gal Blues", "Blow Top Blues", and "Long, Long Journey"—were produced by Leonard Feather in 1944, placing her in the company of clarinetist Barney Bigard and tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld.

In 1947, she recorded and released an early cover version of Leon Rene's "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" (previously released by the Basin Street Boys on Rene's Exclusive label) while at RCA Victor Records. She performed with the Earl Hines sextet from 1949 to 1952.

She had three Grammy nominations: for the Don't Go to Strangers album in 1960, the Save Your Love for Me album in 1981, and My Buddy (dedicated to her first employer, Buddy Johnson) in 1998. In 2008 the album Don't Go to Strangers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Following her recordings for Prestige, on which Jones was featured with high-profile arrangers such as Oliver Nelson and jazz stars such as Frank Wess, Roy Haynes, and Gene Ammons, she had a musical partnership of more than 30 years with tenor saxophonist Houston Person, who received equal billing with her. He also produced her albums and served as her manager after the pair met in one of Johnny "Hammond" Smith's bands.

Although Etta Jones is likely to be remembered above all for her recordings on Prestige, her close professional relationship with Person (frequently, but mistakenly, identified as Jones' husband) helped ensure that the last two decades of her life would be marked by uncommon productivity, evidenced by a string of albums for Muse Records. In 1996, she recorded The Melody Lingers On, the first of five sessions for the HighNote label.

Her last recording, a tribute to Billie Holiday, was released on the day of Jones' death.[8] Only one of her recordings—her debut album for Prestige Records (Don't Go to Strangers, 1960)—enjoyed commercial success with sales of over 1 million copies. Her remaining seven albums for Prestige, and beginning in 1976, her 12 recordings for Muse Records, and seven recordings for HighNote Records secured her a devoted following.

She died in Mount Vernon, New York at the age of 72 from cancer. She was survived by her husband, John Medlock, and a granddaughter. (Wikipedia)

Dianne REEVES

⬇️ DIANNE REEVES ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY 1982-2016 (36CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a well known piano and keyboard player and producer. Dianne and her sister Sharon were raised by their mother in Denver, Colorado. As a child Dianne took piano lessons and sang at every opportunity.

When she was 11 years old her interest in music was enhanced by an inspiring teacher who thought that music was the best way to bring students together. Dianne discovered a love of music and that she wanted to be a singer.

Her uncle, Charles Burrell, a bass player with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, introduced her to the music of jazz singers, from Ella Fitzgerald to Billie Holiday. She was especially impressed by Sarah Vaughan.

At the age of 16, Reeves was singing at the George Washington High School (Denver) in Denver, in a high school big-band. That same year the band played at a music festival (Convention of the National Association of Jazz Educators). Her band won first place and it was there she met the trumpeter Clark Terry, who became her mentor.

A year later Reeves began studying music at the University of Colorado, before she moved in 1976 to Los Angeles. In L.A. her interest in Latin-American music grew. She began experimenting with different kinds of vocal music and finally decided to pursue a career as a singer. She met Eduardo del Barrio, toured with his group "Caldera" and sang in Billy Childs' jazz band "Night Flight". Later she toured with Sérgio Mendes.

From 1983 until 1986 Reeves toured with Harry Belafonte as a lead singer. This period saw her first experiences with world music.

In 1987 Reeves was the first vocalist signed to the reactivated Blue Note/EMI label. Reeves moved back to Denver from Los Angeles in 1992. Reeves sang at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Betty CARTER

⬇️ BETTY CARTER ⬇️

(Lillie Mae Jones)

DISCOGRAPHY 1965-2022 (42CD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

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."

Carter was born in Flint, Michigan, and grew up in Detroit, where her father, James Jones, was the musical director of a Detroit church and her mother, Bessie, was a housewife. As a child, Carter was raised to be extremely independent and to not expect nurturing from her family. Even 30 years after leaving home, Carter was still very aware of and affected by the home life she was raised in, and was quoted saying:

Even at a young age, Carter was able to bring a new vocal style to jazz. The breathiness of her voice was a characteristic seldom heard before her appearance on the music scene. She also was well known for her passion for scat singing and her strong belief that the throwaway attitude that most jazz musicians approached it with was inappropriate and wasteful. Her scatting was known to display a degree of spontaneity and basic inventiveness that was seldom seen elsewhere.

Detroit, where Carter grew up, was a hotbed of jazz growth. After signing with a talent agent after her win at amateur night, Carter had opportunities to perform with famous jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, who visited Detroit for an extensive amount of time. Gillespie is often considered responsible for her strong passion for scatting. In earlier recordings, it is apparent that her scatting had similarities to the qualities of Gillespie's.

At the time of Gillespie's visit, Charlie Parker was receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital, delaying her encounter with him. However, Carter eventually performed with Parker, as well as with his band consisting of Tommy Potter, Max Roach, and Miles Davis. After receiving praise from both Gillespie and Parker for her vocal prowess, Carter felt an upsurge in confidence and knew that she could make it in the business with perseverance.

Carter's confidence was well founded. In 1948, she was asked by Lionel Hampton to join his band. She finally had her big break. Working with Hampton's group gave her the chance to be bandmates with artists such as Charles Mingus and Wes Montgomery, as well as with Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey, who had recently vacated Gillespie's band and Albert Thornton "Al" Grey who would later go on to join Gillespie's band. Hampton obviously had an ear for talent and a love for bebop.

Carter too had a deep love for bebop as well as a talent for it. Hampton's wife Gladys gave her the nickname "Betty Bebop", a nickname she reportedly detested. Despite her good ear and charming personality, Carter was fiercely independent and had a tendency to attempt to resist Hampton's direction, while Hampton had a temper and was quick to anger.

Hampton expected a lot from his players and did not want them to forget that he was the band's leader. She openly hated his swing style, refused to sing in a swinging way, and she was far too outspoken for his tastes. Carter honed her scat singing ability while on tour, which was not well received by Hampton as he did not enjoy her penchant for improvisation. Over the course of two and a half years, Hampton fired Carter a total of seven times.... (Wikipedia)

NEW!

ESSENTIAL CLASSICS
Vol. 057 (2CD) (Remastered) @FLAC