All That Jazz: Live at Princeton

Read About This Recording

Benny Carter, who recently passed away at the age of 95, was an ageless master. He first came to prominence in 1927 with Charlie Johnson's Orchestra (for whom he not only played alto sax but supplied arrangements), was an important contributor to Fletcher Henderson's big band and briefly led McKinney's Cotton Pickers before heading his own orchestra in 1931. Carter, who was considered one of the top altoists in jazz by the early 1930s, continued to develop, spent several years being treated like royalty in Europe and led a fine big band during the Swing Era. Active as an arranger and composer in the Hollywood studios for decades, Carter spent a period (1965-75) mostly away from his horn but he made a full comeback in the mid-1970s and was one of the top saxophonists up until his retirement when he was 90.

All That Jazz was recorded when Carter was in his early 80s and still very much in his musical prime. The music has been remastered with new packaging exclusively for Jazz Heritage members.

All That Jazz features Carter at a 1990 concert. The altoist is joined by the great flugelhornist Clark Terry on 10 standards including two ("All That Jazz" and "We Were in Love") composed by Carter. Vocalist Billy Hill is featured on four numbers ("All That Jazz" has Hill and Terry singing together in humorous fashion) and other highlights include "Misty," "Almost Like Being in Love," "Blues Walk" and "All of Me."

No jazz collection is complete without a healthy supply of Benny Carter records. This disc shows that Carter never really grew old.

—Scott Yanow

Contents

Exclusive!

Introduction; Hackensack; I'm Beginning to See the Light; Misty; Now's The Time; Almost Like Being in Love; When Sunny Gets Blue; All That Jazz; We Were in Love; Blues Walk; All of Me.

Benny Carter, Alto Sax; Clark Terry, Trumpet/Flugelhorn; Kenny Barron, Piano; Rufus Reid, Bass; Kenny Washington, Drums; Billy Hill, Benny Carter, Vocals.

Live recording.