Special to the AmNews
For a couple of reasons Benny Carter stayed on my mind this week. His memory was first evoked during a discussion of the history of the Apollo Theater. In 1934, when the Apollo introduced its Amateur Night show, with Ralph Cooper as the emcee, the Benny Carter Orchestra was featured. He crossed my mind again last week when the Classroom profiled Jackie Carter. They were not related, but they possessed a similar zest for life and versatility.
Born Bennett Lester Carter, Aug. 8, 1907, in Harlem, he received his first music lessons from his mother. She taught him the fundamentals of music, and from neighborhood musicians he learned the art of jazz improvisation. But he was basically self-taught, beginning on the trumpet before switching to the saxophone. He was a teenager in Harlem when he began sitting in with various groups, most notably with the Earl Hines band.
It was during a year with Fletcher Henderson’s band that Carter acquired wider recognition, particularly for his arrangements. A brief stint with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, the Detroit-based unit, was an opportunity to perfect his ability on the alto saxophone, his principal instrument, as well as his technique of arranging. By 1932, he assembled his own orchestra.
After helping to launch the shows at the Apollo, Carter left for London. During his sojourn there, he was staff arranger for the BBC Dance Orchestra. From his base in London, he traveled throughout Europe, establishing a highly respected reputation that put him in great demand. When he wasn’t in the studio, Carter found time for sessions in British after-hour clubs.
“I always played there when I had time,” he told a reporter. “I used to play in a club called the Nest, and there was another one called the Shim-Sham. Not only was I sitting in with a lot of the local musicians, but I was recording with them, too, because I was allowed to make records.” There were dates with Ted Heath and Albert Harris, among others, he recalled.
“One disc, which as far as I know was the first disc in three-four time, which I must add was Leonard Feather’s idea, was ‘Waltzin’ the Blues,’” he said. “It perhaps wasn’t as revolutionary as it might have felt at the time, with people now doing seven-four and eleven-eight, but at the time, it was kind of refreshing for a change.”
In 1938, he was back in the states and back in Harlem, where he led the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. It was his band at the Savoy when the Lindy-hopping Malcolm Little, later to become Malcolm X, was on the floor, demonstrating his prowess with dance partners.
Carter left the Savoy in 1942 for the West Coast, where he would live for the rest of his life. Hollywood presented him not only recording sessions in the studios but also a chance to write arrangements for films and television. One of his most memorable early assignments was for the film “Stormy Weather” in 1943, starring Lena Horne. He played in the orchestra as well but received no credit for any of his participation. In this capacity, Carter opened the door for other jazz musicians to score films and to work in television. He played a critical role in promoting the Musicians Union in the city, along with occasional concert dates with major performers.
In the post-war years, he was a member of the popular “Jazz at the Philharmonic” concert series. This series increased his exposure and kept him in touch with the veteran musicians and with a coterie of newcomers.
By the 1950s and 1960s, he began devoting more time to writing arrangements for vocalists, including Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Appearances at festivals and nightclubs with small ensembles and touring the globe occupied much of his time in the 1970s. It was also during this period that he began to venture into the classroom, teaching at several universities. On two occasions, he was in residence at Princeton University.
Carter’s fame as an arranger should not obscure his singular impact on the alto saxophone, matched by Johnny Hodges before the emergence of Charlie Parker. His tone was crisp and mellow with a lilting melodic flavor. To hear him on his composition “When Lights Are Low” is exemplary of his style and the influence he would have on a generation of musicians. He was still very proficient and energetic into the 1980s, and evidence of this can be seen on YouTube in 1985, when he fronts an ensemble with trumpeter Nat Adderley. Not much has been written about his trumpet performances, but the characteristic purity of tone and execution displayed on the alto and clarinet occurs in Carter’s trumpet solos.
Like his concert performances, Carter’s recordings stretch across more than 60 years, from the early 1930s to the 1990s. Toward the end of his life, he was the recipient of numerous awards and tributes. He was saluted by the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, and in 1998 he was honored at the Third Annual Awards Gala and Concert at Lincoln Center. Among his other awards was the National Medal of Arts in 2000 from President Clinton.
His music was performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, under the direction of Wynton Marsalis, and was given the Center’s award for Artistic Excellence. When Carter was unable to attend, Marsalis accepted the award on his behalf.
In the “New Grove Dictionary of Jazz,” almost two pages are devoted to recounting Carter’s life and music. “As an arranger,” wrote Edward Berger, “Carter was a principal architect of the big band swing style; his arrangements for Fletcher Henderson ‘Keep a Song in your Soul’ (1930) in particular is often cited as a landmark in the evolution of jazz arranging.”
In his book, “A New History of Jazz,” Alyn Shipton observes that Carter “learned his craft in the band led in Wilberforce, Ohio by [Fletcher] Henderson’s brother Horace, and in early 1928 spent some months in the orchestra of Henderson’s New York rival, Charlie Johnson.” Shipton also notes some aspects of Carter’s musical journey and the influence that saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer had on him.
Carter was 95 when he died in 2003, living just long enough to see a website created for him, which is a must-visit to find out more about his life and legacy.