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List Price: $11.98$11.98
The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price. Learn more
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. . . .because this cd represents Ms. Carter at her best--her voice and phrasing are impeccable and display her signature sound in all its glory. I purchased this cd for the first time almost 20 years ago in Paris, and lost it in Sierra Leone--and have longed and craved to hear the opening medley of this cd from the moment it was no longer in my collection--so much so that when I had the pleasure of seeing her tape a live show for BET a year or so before her death, I got up the nerve to approach her during intermission to ask if she would sing my favorite song from the medley, "Old Times," to which she replied with a laugh and a tap on my arm, "son, you don't come to the radio station and request a song. . . .that IS old times. . . .!" She turned and walked away with a member of her band, both giggling at my naive attempt to satisfy a musical craving--her smiling image sketched in my memory forever (though I remember thinking that she, herself was "old times" to refer to the BET television studio as "the radio station" LOL). I have searched and searched for this album since 1999, and was unable to find it until now--and I am so happy to be reacquainted with an old friend--"Old Times" has taken on new meaning for me. . . .Betty Carter was a national treasure, and this album helps one understand why.
In 1969, Betty Carter had been a pro for twenty years. After learning the ropes with the Lionel Hampton big band, worshipping Charlie Parker with all the other young boppers, and struggling to find her own style in the 50's (hobnobbing along the way with such luminaries as Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins), Carter teamed up with Ray Charles, recording the smash hit "Baby It's Cold Outside" with the Genius in 1961. But she wouldn't play along with the star machine and the relationship soured. She chose to go her own way, recording with small labels such as Roulette, who recorded "Finally," before starting her own label, BetCar. It was as she labored in obscurity with her trio, writing her own arrangements, that she developed the most strikingly original jazz vocal style since Sarah Vaughan made bebop her own. "Finally" catches Carter and her trio - pianist Norman Simmons, veteran accompanist of vocalists who went on to be musical director for Joe Williams, bassist Lisle Atkinson, and drummer Al Harewood - at a time their experiments had cohered into something truly special. "Seems Like Old Time," the first track of the opening medley, is full of unusual dissonances alternating with pulsing swing. She brings the tempo way, way down for a tightrope walk through the Johnny Mercer lyric, "I Remember You," again throwing in change-ups in the rhythm and alluring, teasing pauses in the development, before swinging into Irving Berlin's "Remember." Two other medleys are just as good or better: a scorching pair of ballads, "Body and Soul" and "Heart and Soul" (where you can hear from audience reaction what a consummate performer Carter was), and the grouping of two Rodgers and Hart standards, "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "I Could Write A Book," sandwiching a chestnut even more popular in jazz circles, Hammerstein and Kern's "All the Things You Are." But, like all of Betty's arrangements, no one had ever sung them like this before. Among the other songs here, "Blue Moon" and "I Only Have Eyes For You" are typical of Carter's more straight-ahead readings of the standards, sung with verve and wit. "All Through the Day" is the first recorded example of Carter's fabled scat marathons, during which she generated uncommon momentum, bringing the listener into her sheer excitement at swinging so hard and so well. Carter's voice is unorthodox and not as polished or agile as that of a Fitzgerald or a Vaughan, but any shortcomings are compensated for by the brilliance and uniqueness of her conception. Carter made many a fine recording, stretching over five decades; "Finally" captures a key moment in her art and is a must-have for anyone interested in understanding this wonderful maverick's development.
Betty Carter is so esoteric in this album. She is a natural and one of the greats. This album show cases what a real jazz singer is about. She takes command over the space between the notes. If I didn't know better I'd say she's a show off. Only a couple of jazz greats left... enjoy while you can.
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