Benny Carter was born Bennett Lester Carter on August 8, 1907 in Harlem, NY. He learned to play the piano from his mother and eventually took up the trumpet and then the saxophone. By the age of 15, Carter was playing in Harlem's night clubs.
His first recording was with Charlie Johnson's Orchestra, also being the arranger, in 1928. He played and arranged for Fletcher Henderson in 1930 and 1931. He led the Detroit based Mckinney's Cotton Pickers before returning to New York to lead his own band in 1932-1934.
Carter moved to Europe in 1935 and played trumpet with Willie Lewis's orchestra and he became the arranger for the BBC dance orchestra. He returned to Harlem in 1938 and formed another orchestra which played at the Savoy Ballroom through 1940.
Benny relocated to Los Angeles in 1943 and started arranging for the film and television industries. With a few exceptions, he gave up leadership of a full time orchestra in 1946.
In 1969 Carter turned his talents to education. In 1974 Princeton awarded him a honorary masters of humanities degree.He won a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 1987. In 1990 he was named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by Downbeat and Jazz Times Critics' polls.
Carter is the receipient of numerous awards including the Golden Score Award of the American Society of Music Arrangers. He composed such standards as "Blues in My Heart," "When Lights are Low," "Cow-Cow Boogie" "Key Largo," "All That Jazz," and "Only Trust Your Heart."
Benny Carter's career spanned eight decades. He played the alto sax and trumpet. He was a composer, an arranger, a bandleader and an educator. He was known as "The King." He died on July 12, 2003 in Los Angeles, Ca.
This afternoon I listened to "All That Jazz-Live at Princeton." The line-up includes Benny Carter on alto sax, Clark Terry on flugelhorn, Kenny Barron on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and Kenny Washington on drums. Billy Hill is on vocals on four of the tracks.The tunes include "Hackensack," "I'm Beginning to See the Light," "Misty," "Now's the Time," "When Sunny Gets Blue," "All That Jazz," "We Were in Love," "All of Me," and more.
This was a very enjoyable live concert date and would be a nice addition to every jazz library.
Here's a video of Benny playing "When Lights are Low" in Copenhagen.
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