Benny Carter, Rest In Peace
Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy
Benny Carter
So sad. Another great one has passed. Wasn't he playing last month at HJDF? He jumped in to play with Junior Mance on the Sunday night dance? The room was too crowded and I was dancing on the back, but I heard he played. Roy from Chicago was also raving that he saw him playing at the Lenox Lounge on Friday. He purchased a CD and even got it autographed.
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JesseMiner
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Re: Benny Carter
You're confusing Benny Carter with Benny Powell. trombonist with Basie, who sat in and jammed with Junior Mance on Sunday at the HJDF.Serg wrote:Wasn't he playing last month at HJDF? He jumped in to play with Junior Mance on the Sunday night dance? The room was too crowded and I was dancing on the back, but I heard he played. Roy from Chicago was also raving that he saw him playing at the Lenox Lounge on Friday. He purchased a CD and even got it autographed.
Jesse
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funkyfreak
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Greg Avakian
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From allmusic.com; this is just the beginning, check out the link beow for his discograghy and more: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... cm96oo3ep6
"To say that Benny Carter has had a remarkable and productive career would be an extreme understatement. As an altoist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and occasional trumpeter, Carter has been at the top of his field since at least 1928, and in the late '90s, Carter was as strong an altoist at the age of 90 as he was in 1936 (when he was merely 28). His gradually evolving style did not change much through the decades, but neither did it become at all stale or predictable except in its excellence. Benny Carter has been a major figure in every decade since the 1920s, and his consistency and longevity are unprecedented.Essentially self-taught, Benny Carter started on the trumpet and, after a period on C-melody sax, switched to alto. In 1927, he made his recording debut with Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten. The following year, he had his first big band (working at New York's Arcadia Ballroom) and was contributing arrangements to Fletcher Henderson and even Duke Ellington. Carter was with Henderson during 1930-1931, briefly took over McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and then went back to leading his own big band (1932-1934). Already at this stage he was considered one of the two top altoists in jazz (along with Johnny Hodges), a skilled arranger and composer ("Blues in My Heart" was an early hit and would be followed by "When Lights Are Low"), and his trumpet playing was excellent; Carter would also record on tenor, clarinet (an instrument he should have played more), and piano, although his rare vocals show that even he was human.
In 1935, Benny Carter moved to Europe, where in London he was a staff arranger for the BBC dance orchestra (1936-1938); he also recorded in several European countries. Carter's "Waltzing the Blues" was one of the very first jazz waltzes. He returned to the U.S. in 1938, led a classy but commercially unsuccessful big band (1939-1941), and then headed a sextet. In 1943, he relocated permanently to Los Angeles, appearing in the film Stormy Weather (as a trumpeter with Fats Waller) and getting lucrative work writing for the movie studios. He would lead a big band off and on during the next three years (among his sidemen were J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, and Max Roach) before giving up on that effort. Carter wrote for the studios for over 50 years, but he continued recording as an altoist (and all-too-rare trumpeter) during the 1940s and '50s, making a few tours with Jazz at the Philharmonic and participating on some of Norman Granz's jam-session albums. By the mid-'60s, his writing chores led him to hardly playing alto at all, but he made a full "comeback" by the mid-'70s, and maintained a very busy playing and writing schedule even at his advanced age. Even after the rise of such stylists as Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and David Sanborn (in addition to their many followers), Benny Carter still ranks near the top of active altoists."
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And the amaerican Big Bands database:
"[ Benny Carter Swing Orch. 1934 ]
Theme Song: Melancholy Lullaby
Benny Carter: Reeds; alto sax and clarinet; trumpet, Arr. Still living (1995 - 88 yrs on Aug 7.)
Roy Felton, voc. Bennett "Benny" Lester Carter. born: 8-8-1907 Alto Sax & others.
Benny went to Wilberforce College to study theology. Fletcher Henderson's brother Horace was also attending and Benny quit to play with Horace Henderson's Wilberforce Collegians orchestra.
After the 'Collegians', Benny worked as a sideman in such bands as Duke Ellington; Fletcher Henderson; McKinney's Cotton Pickers; Chick Webb and with Charlie Johnson's band at Small's Paradise in New York City.
Throughout, Benny's career, he was not only a distinguished sideman (sax and trumpet) and leader, but he was a very important arranger, too. His scores helped many different orchestras. One band that Benny helped comes to mind. In 1939, Charlie Barnet's band was booked into the Los Angeles Palomar Ballroom. Before they could start, the Ballroom burned down, and Barnet lost everything, instruments, uniforms and scores. In a magnificent gesture of goodwill, Carter and Duke Ellington sent replacement scores to Barnet, which greatly helped him to carry on. But Benny's scores enhanced many of the leading bands, He was with Benny Goodman's orch where he also contributed some good arrangements. Before that he had worked in McKinney's Cotton Pickers, playing and arranging.
Brief Chronology:
1928. Cut his first record with Charlie Johnson's Paradise Club Hot Ten.
1933.
Launches his own band. Sidemen: Teddy Wilson; Chu Berry; Wilbur De Paris; 'Big" Sid Catlett. In 1933, Benny also organized a band for a visiting English composer, Spike Hughes.
1934. Works as a sideman (trumpet) in Willie Bryant's orch.
1935. Goes to Europe for 3 years. In England he work's as staff arranger for the BBC's house band, - The Henry Hall Orchestra.
1937. Leads a band in Holland for the summer season. (The band is both International and Inter-racial in make-up.) He also does some work in France and Sweden.
1938. Returns to New York City. Forms another band. Works with lionel hampton group on rca vivtor recordings
1939. Opens at Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, NYC. Sidemen: Jonah Jones; Tyree Glenn; VIc Dickenson and Eddie Heywood. Disbands about 1-1/2 years later.
1940. Forms another band at New York's Famous Door club on 52nd Street. Mark Warnow hires him to write arrangements for the Lucky Strike " Your Hit Parade"
1941. Forms a very short-lived sextet. He also cuts 2 records with the A Shaw band. The band includes Henry "Red" Allen, Trombonist J. C. Higginbotham and a string section.
1942. Forms another band to work with Billie Holiday.
1943. Goes to Los Angeles, CA., and forms a new band. Benny will now spend most all of his time in Hollywood. Records for capitol.
Benny was one of the many bandleaders who took advantage of the oppotunities available in Hollywood. Among the bands that were operating in Los Angeles at that time were, Woody Herman; Kay Kyser; the Dorsey Bros; james, Vaughn Monroe; Hal McIntyre; Stan Kenton; Benny Goodman; Artie Shaw; Freddie Slack; Horace Heidt; Charlie Spivak, and Charlie Barnet.
1944. Opens at the Swing Club in Los Angeles. Some of the sidemen who play with Benny in Hollywood include: Jerry Wiggins; Hal Schaefer; Buddy Rich; Joe Albany; J. J. Johnson; Max Roach and Henry Coker. Savannah Churchill, vocs.
Among the films for which Benny supplied soundtrack music are: The Gene Krupa Story; The Snows of Kilimanjaro; The Five Pennies (The Red Nichols Story); and The View From Pompey's Head.
1946 Benny is one of the Bands that disband in that fateful December month of 1946. The "Swing Era" begins to fade away. Benny will continue as a soloist/sideman in various 'gigs' afterwards.
1991. Found Benny still 'gigging', -appeared at Catalina's in Hollywood, CA. "
"To say that Benny Carter has had a remarkable and productive career would be an extreme understatement. As an altoist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and occasional trumpeter, Carter has been at the top of his field since at least 1928, and in the late '90s, Carter was as strong an altoist at the age of 90 as he was in 1936 (when he was merely 28). His gradually evolving style did not change much through the decades, but neither did it become at all stale or predictable except in its excellence. Benny Carter has been a major figure in every decade since the 1920s, and his consistency and longevity are unprecedented.Essentially self-taught, Benny Carter started on the trumpet and, after a period on C-melody sax, switched to alto. In 1927, he made his recording debut with Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten. The following year, he had his first big band (working at New York's Arcadia Ballroom) and was contributing arrangements to Fletcher Henderson and even Duke Ellington. Carter was with Henderson during 1930-1931, briefly took over McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and then went back to leading his own big band (1932-1934). Already at this stage he was considered one of the two top altoists in jazz (along with Johnny Hodges), a skilled arranger and composer ("Blues in My Heart" was an early hit and would be followed by "When Lights Are Low"), and his trumpet playing was excellent; Carter would also record on tenor, clarinet (an instrument he should have played more), and piano, although his rare vocals show that even he was human.
In 1935, Benny Carter moved to Europe, where in London he was a staff arranger for the BBC dance orchestra (1936-1938); he also recorded in several European countries. Carter's "Waltzing the Blues" was one of the very first jazz waltzes. He returned to the U.S. in 1938, led a classy but commercially unsuccessful big band (1939-1941), and then headed a sextet. In 1943, he relocated permanently to Los Angeles, appearing in the film Stormy Weather (as a trumpeter with Fats Waller) and getting lucrative work writing for the movie studios. He would lead a big band off and on during the next three years (among his sidemen were J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, and Max Roach) before giving up on that effort. Carter wrote for the studios for over 50 years, but he continued recording as an altoist (and all-too-rare trumpeter) during the 1940s and '50s, making a few tours with Jazz at the Philharmonic and participating on some of Norman Granz's jam-session albums. By the mid-'60s, his writing chores led him to hardly playing alto at all, but he made a full "comeback" by the mid-'70s, and maintained a very busy playing and writing schedule even at his advanced age. Even after the rise of such stylists as Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and David Sanborn (in addition to their many followers), Benny Carter still ranks near the top of active altoists."
============================================
And the amaerican Big Bands database:
"[ Benny Carter Swing Orch. 1934 ]
Theme Song: Melancholy Lullaby
Benny Carter: Reeds; alto sax and clarinet; trumpet, Arr. Still living (1995 - 88 yrs on Aug 7.)
Roy Felton, voc. Bennett "Benny" Lester Carter. born: 8-8-1907 Alto Sax & others.
Benny went to Wilberforce College to study theology. Fletcher Henderson's brother Horace was also attending and Benny quit to play with Horace Henderson's Wilberforce Collegians orchestra.
After the 'Collegians', Benny worked as a sideman in such bands as Duke Ellington; Fletcher Henderson; McKinney's Cotton Pickers; Chick Webb and with Charlie Johnson's band at Small's Paradise in New York City.
Throughout, Benny's career, he was not only a distinguished sideman (sax and trumpet) and leader, but he was a very important arranger, too. His scores helped many different orchestras. One band that Benny helped comes to mind. In 1939, Charlie Barnet's band was booked into the Los Angeles Palomar Ballroom. Before they could start, the Ballroom burned down, and Barnet lost everything, instruments, uniforms and scores. In a magnificent gesture of goodwill, Carter and Duke Ellington sent replacement scores to Barnet, which greatly helped him to carry on. But Benny's scores enhanced many of the leading bands, He was with Benny Goodman's orch where he also contributed some good arrangements. Before that he had worked in McKinney's Cotton Pickers, playing and arranging.
Brief Chronology:
1928. Cut his first record with Charlie Johnson's Paradise Club Hot Ten.
1933.
Launches his own band. Sidemen: Teddy Wilson; Chu Berry; Wilbur De Paris; 'Big" Sid Catlett. In 1933, Benny also organized a band for a visiting English composer, Spike Hughes.
1934. Works as a sideman (trumpet) in Willie Bryant's orch.
1935. Goes to Europe for 3 years. In England he work's as staff arranger for the BBC's house band, - The Henry Hall Orchestra.
1937. Leads a band in Holland for the summer season. (The band is both International and Inter-racial in make-up.) He also does some work in France and Sweden.
1938. Returns to New York City. Forms another band. Works with lionel hampton group on rca vivtor recordings
1939. Opens at Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, NYC. Sidemen: Jonah Jones; Tyree Glenn; VIc Dickenson and Eddie Heywood. Disbands about 1-1/2 years later.
1940. Forms another band at New York's Famous Door club on 52nd Street. Mark Warnow hires him to write arrangements for the Lucky Strike " Your Hit Parade"
1941. Forms a very short-lived sextet. He also cuts 2 records with the A Shaw band. The band includes Henry "Red" Allen, Trombonist J. C. Higginbotham and a string section.
1942. Forms another band to work with Billie Holiday.
1943. Goes to Los Angeles, CA., and forms a new band. Benny will now spend most all of his time in Hollywood. Records for capitol.
Benny was one of the many bandleaders who took advantage of the oppotunities available in Hollywood. Among the bands that were operating in Los Angeles at that time were, Woody Herman; Kay Kyser; the Dorsey Bros; james, Vaughn Monroe; Hal McIntyre; Stan Kenton; Benny Goodman; Artie Shaw; Freddie Slack; Horace Heidt; Charlie Spivak, and Charlie Barnet.
1944. Opens at the Swing Club in Los Angeles. Some of the sidemen who play with Benny in Hollywood include: Jerry Wiggins; Hal Schaefer; Buddy Rich; Joe Albany; J. J. Johnson; Max Roach and Henry Coker. Savannah Churchill, vocs.
Among the films for which Benny supplied soundtrack music are: The Gene Krupa Story; The Snows of Kilimanjaro; The Five Pennies (The Red Nichols Story); and The View From Pompey's Head.
1946 Benny is one of the Bands that disband in that fateful December month of 1946. The "Swing Era" begins to fade away. Benny will continue as a soloist/sideman in various 'gigs' afterwards.
1991. Found Benny still 'gigging', -appeared at Catalina's in Hollywood, CA. "
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JesseMiner
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AlekseyKosygin
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Benny Carter
Jesse and Roy: Thanks for the clarification.
Serg
Serg
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funkyfreak
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My favorite Benny Carter album is Jazz Giant. I play How Can You Lose off of it often, great song. The Chron. Classics albums are also great. I have a couple later albums by him, but they don't stand out as much as the earlier ones. Anyone have any modern Benny they can recommend?-
Greg Avakian
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Mike wrote: I have a couple later albums by him, but they don't stand out as much as the earlier ones. Anyone have any modern Benny they can recommend?
Elegy In Blue (1994) with Ray Brown on Bass and Sweets Edison on trumpet. Ironically, he decided to record it upon hearing of the death of a close friend of his. It is a tribute album to "his fallen musical comrades" in the Jazz world with whom Benny recorded, with one song dedicated to each of them: Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Duke, Monk, Louis Armstrong, Django, Charlie Shavers, and Lee Morgan.Although I agree with the AMG review--which blasts Sweets' trumpet at 79--there are a few gems, notably the first song: Did you Call Her Today? The review also notes that the rhytm section is solid, which is true and which makes it better for us.