Betty Carter Research Paper

Born on May 16th, 1930, Betty Carter at the age of 16 first started her career in jazz music. She first started singing in Detroit jazz clubs and after 1946 continued to work in bars and theaters in the Midwest under the name Lerene Carter. At a young age, Betty Carter began to study piano at the Detroit Conservatory of Music. Carter was inspired to make her own style of music after hearing the vocalists Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn. Lionel Hampton asked her to join his band in 1948 but Carter's continued suggestion of improvising started to annoy Hampton and he fired her seven times in two and a half years. Carter then left the Hamptons band for good in 1951 and then performed around the country in jazz clubs like Harlem’s Apollo Theater and the Vanguard in New York, Philadelphia’s The Showboat, and the Blues Alley in Washington D.C. alongside jazz artists like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, and Thelonious Monk. …show more content…
In 1955 she made her first recording. By 1958 Carter was ready to record again and an album titled “I Can’t Help It” came about. She was working her reputation as being an independent woman along with being a devoted jazz singer and her popularity among inner jazz circles was high, but critical and popular acclaim eluded her. She was then becoming very well known for her specific style that combined both off-beat interpretations of classic tunes paired with wild scat-singing that never seemed to be on beat. Soon after came Ray Charles. Ray Charles, based on a recommendation from Miles Davis, who worked with Carter before, decided to take her on tour with him in the late 50s. Charles was infatuated with her voice and was looking for a partner to record a series of duets with him. In 1961, the album came to