‘Round Midnight
Nothing More To Look Forward To
Who What Why Where When
Heart and Soul
Call Me Darling
When I Fall In Love
‘Round Midnight
I Wonder
Theme from Dr Kildare
The Good Life
Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool
Two Cigarettes in the Dark
Shine On, Harvest Moon
One Note Samba
Out There with Betty Carter
You’re Driving Me Crazy
I Can’t Help It
By the Bend of the River
Babe’s Blues
Foul Play
You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me
One the Isle of May
But Beautiful
All I’ve Got
Make It Last
Blue Bird Happiness
Something Wonderful
Bonus Tracks
Rock-A-Bye-Baby
Frenesi (1956 and 1961 versions)
Betty Carter (vocals): ‘Round Midnight session – Conte Candoli
(trumpet): Richie Kamuca (tenor sax); Russ Freeman (piano): Monty
Budwig (bass); Shelley Manne (drums), recorded August 1962, NYC
Out There with Betty Carter session; collective personnel
– Kenny Dorham and Ray Copeland (trumpets): Melba Liston (trombone):
Gigi Gryce (alto sax, conductor): Jimmy Powell (alto sax): Benny Golson,
Jerome Richardson (tenor sax): Sahib Shihab (baritone sax): Wynton
Kelly (piano): Sam Jones, Peck Morrison (bass): Specs Wright (drums),
recorded February 1958, NYC
Bonus tracks; Studio Orchestra. On 1956 Frenesi, orchestra conducted by Gigi Gryce
SOLAR RCORDS 4569940
[76:39]
It’s startling to hear, in the very first track of this well-filled
disc, a kind of girl-pop cum C & W number in which Betty Carter’s
voice is overdubbed with itself. The cutesy triviality of this will
doubtless jar with Carter’s legion of admirers, who might not wish
to be reminded of their idol’s uncertain beginnings. I, though, quite
like it – heretically, I prefer it to some of the studied vocalisation
to be heard elsewhere. The first LP to be transferred here is ‘Round
Midnight from 1962 where a fine backing band is kept on something
of a short leash – disappointing when the band consists of musicians
of the calibre of Conte Candoli, Richie Kamuca, Russ Freeman, and
driven onwards by Shelly Manne. Kamuca at least gets a good chorus
on Call Me Darling. Even on an R ‘n’ B swinger such as Everybody’s
Somebody’s Fool the band just plays fills – a wasted opportunity
if ever there was one, and the excuse that the album was to promote
Carter doesn’t really wash. Why hire them in the first place if they’re
largely muzzled? Arranger and conductor Claus Ogerman must surely
shoulder some of the blame for that. On other tracks there’s an anonymous
orchestra directed by Oliver Nelson. A couple of these tracks never
made it to the LP – Shine on Harvest Moon, too R ‘n’ B again,
and an appropriately Latino version of One Note Samba.
Out There was actually the earlier album, having been recorded
in 1958. She sounds rather more herself in this set, giving vent to
her unbridled propensity for scat vocals. The best track here is probably
Babe’s Blue where Jerome Richardson and Ray Copeland take
brief solos, though we hear from elegant pianist Wynton Kelly on You’re
Getting To Be A Habit With Me. The variety of ballads and up-tempo
swingers is more conventional in this album – it’s colouristically
less adventurous than the later album in that respect – but stylistically
Carter is heard to better effect in 1958. The disc finishes with two
eminently forgettable versions of Frenesi.
Excellent production values ensure that these tracks are heard in the best possible light. Artistically speaking, unevenness is the name of the game
throughout.
Jonathan Woolf
CD Reviews
SOLAR RCORDS 4569940
