Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter

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Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter
Eckstine Carter.jpeg
Studio album by
Billy Eckstine and Benny Carter
Released1986
RecordedNovember 17–18, 1986 in New York City [1]
Genre Jazz
Length50:43
Label Verve
Billy Eckstine chronology
I Am a Singer
(1984)		Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter
(1986)
Benny Carter chronology
A Gentleman and His Music
(1985)		Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter
(1986)		 Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson
(1986)

Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter is a 1986 album by the American singer Billy Eckstine, accompanied by the alto saxophonist Benny Carter. [2] The singer Helen Merrill appears in duet with Eckstine on the first and last songs of the album. This was Eckstine's only LP released on Verve Records, and marked his final album recordings. [3]

Billy Eckstine American musician

William Clarence Eckstine was an American jazz and pop singer, and a bandleader of the swing era. He was noted for his rich, resonant, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. Eckstine's recording of "I Apologize" was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. The New York Times described him as an "influential band leader" whose "suave bass-baritone" and "full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers like Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock and Lou Rawls."

Benny Carter American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader

Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career in the 1920s he was a popular arranger, having written charts for Fletcher Henderson's big band that shaped the swing style. He had an unusually long career that lasted into the 1990s. During the 1980s and '90s, he was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, which included receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Helen Merrill is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1955 release Helen Merrill, was an immediate success and associated her with the first generation of bebop jazz musicians. After a prolific 1950s and '60s when she recorded with Charlie Parker and Clifford Brown, Merrill spent time recording and touring in Europe and Japan, falling into obscurity in the United States. In the 1980s and '90s, a contract with Verve Records and high-profile performances in America returned her to prominence. Noted for her emotional, sensual vocal performances, her career continues in its sixth decade with concerts and recordings.

Contents

Eckstine was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male at the 30th Grammy Awards for his work on the album. [4]

The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to male recording artists for quality jazz vocal performances. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Scott Yanow reviewed Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter for Allmusic and wrote that "Billy Eckstine's final recording (although he would live until 1993) finds the 72-year-old singer showing his age. Mr. B's famous baritone voice at this late date only hints at his earlier greatness although his phrasing and enthusiasm uplift what could have been a depressing affair." Yanow felt that Carter "...still sounds in his prime on alto" and praised his trumpet solo on "September Song". [3] Eckstine's biographer Cary Ginnell also noted the deterioration in his voice, writing that "...he had by now lost most of his lower range...[his] jazz instincts were still evident, but his chops were gone". [1]

Scott Yanow is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.

Track listing

  1. "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (Cole Porter)
  2. "My Funny Valentine" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
  3. "Here's That Rainy Day" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)
  4. "Summertime" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
  5. "A Kiss from You" (Benny Carter, Johnny Mercer)
  6. "Memories of You" (Andy Razaf, Eubie Blake)
  7. "I've Got the World on a String" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler)
  8. "Now That I Need You" (Benny Moten)
  9. "Over the Rainbow" (Arlen, Yip Harburg)
  10. "September Song" (Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weil)
  11. "Autumn Leaves" (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, Mercer)
  12. "Didn't We?" (Jimmy Webb)

Personnel

Singing act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, gazal and popular music styles such as pop, rock, electronic dance music and filmi.

Alto saxophone Type of saxophone

The alto saxophone, also referred to as the alto sax, is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, and patented in 1846. It is pitched in E♭, and is smaller than the tenor, but larger than the soprano. The alto sax is the most common saxophone and is commonly used in concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, and jazz. The fingerings of the different saxophones are all the same so a saxophone player can play any type of saxophone.

Bobby Tucker American pianist and arranger

Bobby Tucker was a pianist and arranger during the jazz era from the 1940s into the 1960s. He is most famous for being Billie Holiday's accompanist from 1946 to 1949.

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References

  1. 1 2 Cary Ginell (1 August 2013). Mr. B: The Music and Life of Billy Eckstine. Hal Leonard. ISBN   978-1-4803-6679-4.
  2. ↑ Encilopedia del Jazz: Benny Carter, accessed June 7, 2019
  3. 1 2 3 Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter at AllMusic
  4. ↑ Hunt, Dennis (January 15, 1988). "U2, Jackson Top Grammy Nominees". Los Angeles Times . Tribune Company. p. 3. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
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