''The Audience with Betty Carter'' is a 1980 live double album by the American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

singer Betty Carter.

Signatures

The album's first track, "Sounds (Movin' On)", is 25 minutes in length and features an epic scat solo. The use of the Academy Award-nominated classic "The Trolley Song", is a nod to the city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, where the album was recorded. The second half of the album features several songs written by Carter. The penultimate track is a fresh take on Rodgers and Hammerstein's " My Favorite Things from ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

'', far different from the version by

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

on his 1960 album of the same name. The set ends with the plaintive " Open the Door," Carter's signature tune. ''The Audience With Betty Carter'' was first released on Carter's own Bet-Car Records and later reissued on Verve.

Reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' awarded the album four out of four stars, including a special crown for a "recording of merit", an honor bestowed on fewer than 100 jazz recordings." '' Billboard'' magazine gave the album a lukewarm review on its release in 1980, saying that "She won't please all jazz fans - some of her affectations are annoying. But overall, it's a strong package." ''The Audience with Betty Carter'' was later included in an appendix to ''1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''.

Track listing

Disc One #"Sounds" (Movin' On) ( Betty Carter) – 25:20 #"I Think I Got It Now" (Carter) – 3:33 #"Caribbean Sun" (

Carlos Garnett Carlos Garnett (born December 1, 1938) is a Panamanian-American jazz saxophonist. Biography Garnett was born on December 1, 1938, in Red Tank, Panama Canal Zone. He was interested in jazz after hearing the music of Louis Jordan and James Mood ...

) – 4:17 #"

The Trolley Song "The Trolley Song" is a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. In a 1989 NPR interview, Blane said the song was inspired by a picture of a trolleycar in a turn-of-t ...

" (

Ralph Blane Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 – November 13, 1995) was an American composer, lyricist, and performer. Life and career Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He attended Tulsa Central High School. He studied singing with ...

Hugh Martin Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland ...

) – 3:37 #" Everything I Have Is Yours" (

Harold Adamson Harold Campbell Adamson (December 10, 1906 – August 17, 1980) was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Adamson, the son of building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born and raised in ...

, Burton Lane) – 6:16 #"I'll Buy You a Star" (

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

Arthur Schwartz Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz. Biography Early life Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on Nov ...

) – 2:12 Disc Two #" I Could Write a Book" ( Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:41 #"Can't We Talk It Over"/"Either It's Love or It Isn't" ( Doris Fisher, Allan Roberts)/(

Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Bes ...

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

) – 7:26 #"Deep Night" (Charles Henderson,

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Early life Hubert Prior Vall ...

) – 2:45 #" Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most" (

Fran Landesman Fran Landesman (October 21, 1927 – July 23, 2011) was an American lyricist and poet. She grew up in New York City and lived for years in St. Louis, Missouri, where her husband Jay Landesman operated the Crystal Palace nightclub. One of her bes ...

, Tommy Wolf) – 7:22 #"Tight" (Carter) – 3:44 #"Fake" (Carter) – 4:16 #"So..." (Carter) – 7:03 #" My Favorite Things" ( Oscar Hammerstein II, Rodgers) – 4:39 #" Open the Door" (Carter) – 5:09

Personnel

(Recorded December 6–8, 1979,

Great American Music Hall The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconies ...

) * Betty Carter - vocals *

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

Curtis Lundy Curtis Lundy (born October 1, 1955) is an American double bass player, composer, producer, choir director and arranger. Lundy is best known for his work as part of jazz vocalist Betty Carter's band. Discography As leader * ''Beatitudes'' with Bo ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

* Kenny Washington - drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Audience with Betty Carter, The 1979 live albums Betty Carter live albums Verve Records live albums Albums recorded at the Great American Music Hall United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums