I dig Betty Carter!

[Kalo]

I dig Betty Carter, too. Not everything, but she sure had her moments.

I recall a thought that occured to me when I saw her live in the '80s. It struck me that her approach to recomposing a tune had a lot in common with Monk's -- idiosyncratic, suspenseful, and engaging -- but representing the distaff complement to his. Now this may not be the most politically correct observation, but Monk's recompositions and phrasings were hard, angular, and masculine while Carter's, just as radical, were nevertheless soft, curvy, and feminine.

There is really something to that, in my opinion. Those who "get" Betty tend to really delve into (and enjoy) her recomposing and deconstructing the songs, which she does in a unique way. It was more obvious that this is what she was doing when you saw her live, I think. Her stage presence was powerful--she was the opposite of a shrinking violet, and it seemed that she was boldly taking risks with the material, which risks were interesting and enjoyable to follow. At least that is how I viewed it and heard it.

To simply dismiss her out of hand with little analysis is, in my humble opinion, like saying "that John Coltrane just ran all over his horn--I can't follow it--he's no good." Betty was a heavy artist, and if you don't get it at first, I don't think it is fair to dump on Betty.

I'm glad you agree, Hot Ptah. I think her style wnet way beyond mere mannerism.

[Kalo]

Sharing a table near me were Linda Ronstadt and Pete Hamil.

The Van Der Graaf guy?

Guy

The New York columnist/editor/author Pete Hamill, I believe...

Though I like the idea of "the Van Der Graaf guy" hanging out with la Linda, it would be sad to think that he had such a negligible influence on her music.

[Quasimado]

According to Steve Huey on the "All Music" site ... (and re-quoted around the net) ... "She (Betty) spent 1958 and 1959 on the road with Miles Davis ..."

Is there any evidence for this? 1958/9 was a peak period for Miles with Coltrane, Cannonball, Gil Evans, Bill Evans etc. I've dug around a little but can find no references to Betty with Miles at this time. Maybe someone has some information to share ...   Q

 

 

 

[Guy Berger]

3 hours ago, Quasimado said:

According to Steve Huey on the "All Music" site ... (and re-quoted around the net) ... "She (Betty) spent 1958 and 1959 on the road with Miles Davis ..."

Is there any evidence for this? 1958/9 was a peak period for Miles with Coltrane, Cannonball, Gil Evans, Bill Evans etc. I've dug around a little but can find no references to Betty with Miles at this time. Maybe someone has some information to share ...   Q

She wasn't performing with Miles, but maybe they were some sort of opening/headlining tandem?