Customer Reviews

Meet Betty Carter & Ray Bryant

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Let's start with the bad news, if you're looking to condense your LP collection with this nifty 2-for-1 deal, I have one piece of very bad news, Sony has chosen to omit the track "If I Can Just Make Into Heaven" from the original "Little Suzie." There are really nice live versions of "heaven" on other discs, however.

Anyway...

Who is this Betty Carter??? I have been collecting only the instrumental work of Big Ray, worried that any vocals would obscure the man's genius, but I really, really like him playing under Miss Carter.

Betty Carter has a vocal range that rivals Aretha at the top end, and James Earl Jones at the bottom (I am not kidding! This can be almost alarming at times. I can only imagine how many dates she frightened at moments of passion...but I digress.)

Betty joins Ray on every other track of the first record, and Ray plays some fun and light stuff in between.

"Little Suzie" is a special treat, with a nice studio version of the tittle-track tribute to his cute-as-a-button daughter (featured on the album's cover) and ranging to an especially soulful "Greensleeves.

This is nice collection for dedicated Bryant collectors. If you are new to the genius of Big Ray, start with "Here's Ray Bryant," or maybe the slightly raucous "North of the Border," not that any Ray is gonna do you wrong.

This album combines the equally great talents of Betty Carter and Ray Bryant to create a classic fusion of jazz group and vocal. The first half of the album showcases Betty Carter's phenomenal singing, from racing scat riffs ("Thou Swell") to the deep, husky renditions of "Moonlight in Vermont" and, my absolute favourite, "Gone with the Wind". The second half features Ray Bryant and his band and some truly awesome jazz.

This collection of songs is easy to listen to; if you're itching for more Betty Carter and are up for something a little more adventurous (and truly Betty), I highly recommend her CD "I Can't Help It". I guarantee you'll never hear jazz the same way again.

There are so many wonderful songs on this CD. Betty singing and scatting "Thou Swell" is absolutely mind boggling. Other favorites for me are "I could write a book.." and "Can't we be friends..." "Let's fall in love..." Betty has more character in her voice than any other jazz singer. She squawks, shouts, and croons and somehow it combines in a a rich and sublime sound you won't hear anywhere else. Ray Bryants ensemble is a great partner that swings and improvises right along with her.

Betty Carter's voice was so close tonally to a saxaphone, she sounded like a real instrument when taking her, unexpected and utterly exciting scat solos. On numbers like "Moonlight In Vermont" she is playful with the melody yet, never compromises the lyrics, when singing the verse "Telegraph cables that sing down the highway and travel each bend in the road" when pernouncing "bend" she sounds so playful, she will usually do things like that when singing ballads. This CD re-issues her earliest sessions as a leader with Ray Bryant's trio. This CD is highly recommended as an example of the many talents of Betty "Bebop" Carter as Lionol Hampton used to call her. Also try on CD "I Can't Help It" which was formarly on LP as "What A Little Moonlight Can Do."

Great music, but typically, the Collectors label in their two for one madness have left out a track: namely "If I can just make it" from the Ray Bryant album _Little Suzie_ (CL 1149).