''Songbook'' is an album by American saxophonist and composer

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

, released in 1996 by

MusicMasters Records MusicMasters was a record label based in Ocean, New Jersey. History MusicMasters was founded in the late 1970s by Albert Nissim and his sons Robert and Jeffrey, who owned the Musical Heritage Society, which had previously only licensed Europea ...

.Benny Carter: Selected Discography - Bibliography
accessed June 10, 2019

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

reviewer Scott Yanow stated "Due to his being such a talented altoist, arranger and occasional trumpeter for seven decades, it is often forgotten that Benny Carter wrote some worthy songs along the way ... The ambitious program includes five Carter songs that were receiving their world premiere; in addition Carter also wrote or co-wrote the lyrics to nine of the pieces. The singers all show respect for the melody and words ... The vocalists consistently seem quite inspired by the unique project. There are many short Carter and Warren Vache solos and, even with the emphasis on ballads, there is more variety than one might expect. The well-conceived tribute is easily recommended".

Track listing

All compositions by Benny Carter, except where noted. # "Only Trust Your Heart" (Benny Carter,

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...

) – 5:28 # "All That Jazz" (Carter,

Al Stillman Al Stillman ''(né'' Albert Irving Silverman; 26 June 1901 Manhattan, New York – 17 February 1979 Manhattan, New York) was an American lyricist. Biography Stillman was born to Jewish parents Herman Silverman and Gertrude Rubin ''(maiden).'' He a ...

) – 4:53 # "I Was Wrong" – 4:21 # "Rain" – 4:58 # "

Cow-Cow Boogie "Cow Cow Boogie (Cuma-Ti-Yi-Yi-Ay)" is a "country-boogie"-style blues song, with music was written by Don Raye, and lyrics were written by Benny Carter and Gene De Paul. The song was written for the 1942 Abbott & Costello film '' Ride 'Em Cowboy'' ...

" ( Don Raye, Carter, Gene de Paul) – 5:32 # "Fresh Out of Love" – 5:37 # "Speak Now" – 4:54 # "A Kiss from You" (Carter, Johnny Mercer) – 5:27 # "You Bring Out the Best in Me" – 4:15 # "My Kind of Trouble Is You" (Carter, Paul Vandervoort II) – 5:46 # "When Lights Are Low" (Carter,

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", " Royal Garden Blues", " I've Found a New ...

) – 4:05 # "Lonely Woman" (Carter,

Ray Sonin Ray Sonin (23 June 1907–20 August 1991) was a British-born broadcaster on Toronto radio station CFRB and hosted several popular radio programs, including ''Calling All Britons'' and ''Down Memory Lane''. Life Born in London on June 23, 190 ...

) – 6:33 # "Key Largo" (Carter,

Karl Suessdorf Karl A. Suessdorf (April 28, 1911 – February 25, 1982) was an American songwriter. Biography The son of Henry F. Suessdorf, he was born in Valdez, Alaska, United States, where his father operated from 1907 to 1917 the Copper Block Buffet, a ...

, Leah Worth) – 4:32 # "We Were in Love" – 6:00 # "I See You" – 4:48

Personnel

– alto saxophone * Warren Vaché – cornet (tracks 1-3, 5-7, 9, 11, 13 & 14) *Chris Neville – piano (tracks 1-14) * Steve LaSpina – bass (tracks 1-14) * Sherman Ferguson – drums (tracks 1, 3-9, 11, 12, 14 & 15)

Guests

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

(tracks 1 & 14),

Carmen Bradford Carmen Bradford (born July 19, 1960, Austin, Texas) is an American jazz singer. She sang with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1983 to 1991. Bradford grew up in a musical family; her grandfather is Melvin Moore, her father Bobby Bradford, and her ...

(tracks 2 & 13),

Kenny Rankin Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin would often sing notes in a high range to express emotion. Biogr ...

(track 2), Joe Williams (tracks 3 & 14),

Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television ...

(track 4),

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

(track 5),

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard'' maga ...

(track 6),

Billy Stritch Billy Stritch (born February 12, 1962, in Houston, Texas) is an American composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist. For many years, he was best known as a "confidant", music director, and piano player for Liza Minnelli. Early life and care ...

(track 7),

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and ot ...

(track 8),

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist, who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

, (track 9), Ruth Brown (track 10), Weslia Whitfield (track 11), Nancy Marano (track 12), Peggy Lee (track 15) – vocals * Gene DiNovi – piano (track 15) * John Heard – bass (track 15) * Roy McCurdy – drums (tracks 2, 10 & 13)

References

{{Authority control 1996 albums Benny Carter albums MusicMasters Records albums