Betty Carter and Ray Bryant - Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant [Bonus Tracks]

This CD features singer Betty Carter and pianist Ray Bryant at the beginning of their careers, reissuing their very first recordings as leaders. Carter's 25-year-old voice was already quite recognizable, although the improvising style on her 11 titles here is much more conservative than it would be from the 1970s on. However, Carter's scatting on "Frenesi" (which sounds like a wigged-out Carmen McRae) shows individuality, and her renditions of "Social Call," "I Could Write a Book," and "Moonlight in Vermont" are memorable. Read More