Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Released
  
1986

Release date
  
1987

Genre
  
Jazz

Length
  
50:43

Label
  
EmArcy Records

Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumbd

Recorded
  
November 17–18, 1986 in New York City

Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter (1986)
  
Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson (1986)

Artists
  
Billy Eckstine, Benny Carter

Similar
  
Billy Eckstine albums, Jazz albums

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

Reception

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". 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".

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

  • Billy Eckstine - vocals
  • Helen Merrill - vocals on "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" and "Didn't We?"
  • Benny Carter - alto saxophone
  • Bobby Tucker - piano, arranger
  • Paul West - double bass
  • Vernel Fournier - drums

    • Songs

    1You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To5:26
    2My Funny Valentine3:36
    3Here's That Rainy Day3:55

    References

    Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA