Open the Door : The Life and Music of Betty Carter

by Bauer, William R.

• ISBN13: 9780472097913
• ISBN10: 0472097911
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

Betty Carter's lifelong influence on the music world is unparalleled. Her contributions to music as a jazz singer, composer, arranger, and teacher have fostered a generation of musicians and fans. This book looks at Betty Carter's contribution to the music world and delves behind the scenes to show Carter's growth as a businesswoman who took charge of her career. Drawing upon revealing interviews with Carter, the author shows how ever-changing shifts in the music industry affected the singer's life and influenced her music. Bauer shows through his analysis of her musical examples how Carter absorbed various musical influences, from Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday to Miles Davis, and made them her own. From her apprenticeship with Gladys Hampton, Carter grew to become a shrewd dealer who learned to do her own contracting, A&R, and marketing and distribution. By chronicling one of jazz's great singers and composers, the book sheds light on how early jazz musicians got their work to the public and how this process has changed during the past fifty years. William R. Bauer is Assistant Professor of Music at Rutgers University-Newark, where he directs the Rutgers Newark Student Jazz Ensemble, MOSAIC, and teaches in the Jazz History and Research program. He has written several articles about jazz vocal performance and scat singing, as well as various aspects of music education. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe and include works for the theater and dance.

Author Biography

William R. Bauer is Assistant Professor of Music at College of Staten Island, CUNY. He has written several articles about jazz vocal performance and scat singing, as well as various aspects of music education. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe and include works for the theater and dance.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(6)
Childhood	7	(16)
Bebopping in Detroit	23	(14)
Apprenticeship	37	(16)
On Her Own	53	(14)
Early Successes	67	(14)
Making Progress	81	(12)
Paying Dues	93	(16)
A New Direction	109	(20)
Breakthrough	129	(24)
Reaching for More	153	(20)
Celebrity	173	(24)
Recognition	197	(22)
Movin' On	219	(18)
Appendix: Reading the Phonetic Notation	237	(6)
Musical Examples	243	(102)
Notes	345	(44)
Selected References	389	(8)
Discography	397	(4)
Videography	401	(2)
Index	403