Benny Carter
Pioneering alto saxophonist, trumpeter, and arranger who shaped the swing era and enjoyed a career spanning eight decades.
Last updated
via Wikipedia: Betty Carter · see source
Benny Carter was a jazz musician, bandleader, arranger, and composer born in New York City in 1907.[1] He died at age 95 in Los Angeles on July 12, 2003.[2]
Key facts and history
He settled on alto saxophone after trying trumpet and C melody saxophone.[1] He left Henderson to lead McKinney's Cotton Pickers in Detroit.[3] He died from complications of bronchitis at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[2] His mother and other neighborhood residents provided Carter with piano instruction.[1]
Carter's first recording session occurred in 1927 when he played with Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten.[1] At around age twenty, Carter took over arranging duties for Fletcher Henderson after Don Redman left, teaching himself the craft through experimentation and by studying existing scores without any formal training.[4] Studio work in Los Angeles became a major focus for Carter, occupying most of his time for many years.[5] In 1969, sociology professor Morroe Berger, who wrote about jazz, convinced Carter to visit Princeton University for a weekend, an event that opened up teaching opportunities for him.[3]
What the cited sources add
The Benny Carter biography website states that in 1978 Carter led a group at the White House for President Jimmy Carter's celebration of the Newport Jazz Festival's 25th anniversary.[6] The same source reports that New York radio station WKCR marked Carter's 75th birthday by playing his music non-stop for 177 hours.[6] It also states that Carter placed first in the 1989 Down Beat International Critics Poll in the arranger's category.[6] According to the biography, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presented Carter with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.[6]
The biography further states that in 1990, both the Down Beat and Jazz Times International Critics' polls selected Carter as "Jazz Artist of the Year."[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Benny Carter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Berger, "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz", Grove's Dictionaries, 2002, p. 172; Yanow, "Benny Carter", AllMusic; Berger, "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz", Grove's Dictionaries, 2002, p. 172 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Benny Carter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilson, "Benny Carter – jazz career spanned 8 decades", SFGate, July 14, 2003; "Benny Carter: August 8, 1907 - July 12, 2003", www.bennycarter.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Benny Carter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Berger, "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz", Grove's Dictionaries, 2002, p. 172 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Benny Carter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gioia, "The History of Jazz", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 108– (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Benny Carter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tatum, Art. The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces. Pablo Records 6PACD-4401-2, 1990, liner notes, p. 13.; Gioia, "The History of Jazz", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 108–; Berger, "The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz", Grove's Dictionaries, 2002, p. 172; Yanow, "Benny Carter", AllMusic (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Benny Carter: Biography", Bennycarter.com. facts only, no text reused. bennycarter.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Benny Carter (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Benny Carter (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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