For over six decades, Benny Carter has occupied a unique place in American music. As Duke Ellington once wrote: "The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he."
As a soloist, Carter, along with Johnny Hodges, was the model for
swing era alto saxophonists. He is nearly unique in his ability to
double on trumpet, which he plays in an equally distinctive style.
In addition, he is an accomplished clarinetist, and has recorded
proficiently on piano and trombone. As an arranger, he helped chart
the course of big band jazz, and his compositions, such as "When
Lights Are Low" and "Blues In My Heart," have become jazz standards.
Carter has also made major musical contributions to the world of
film and television. His musicianship and personality have won him
the respect of fellow artists and audiences on every continent.
Born in New York in 1907, Carter received his first music lessons on
piano from his mother. He was attracted to the trumpet through his
cousin, the legendary Cuban Bennett, and a neighbor, the great
Ellington brass man Bubber Miley. Carter saved for months to buy a
trumpet but, failing to master it over the weekend, he exchanged it
for a C-melody saxophone. Frankie Trumbauer was an early
inspiration to the young Benny, who was largely self-taught. By age
fifteen, Carter was already sitting in at Harlem night spots.
Copyright © 1996-2003 Edward Berger
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