". . .Even at a young age, Carter was able to bring a new vocal style to jazz. The breathiness of her voice was a characteristic seldom seen before her appearance on the music scene. She also was well known for her passion for scat singing and her strong belief that the throwaway attitude that most jazz musicians approached it with was inappropriate and wasteful due to its spontaneity and basic inventiveness, seldom seen elsewhere.In 1977, (BETTY)Carter reached a new high in fame for herself, being lauded by critics, media, and fans for her talent, and even teaching a master class with her past mentor, Dizzy Gillespie, at Harvard. In the last decade of her life, Carter began to receive even wider acclaim and recognition. In 1987 she signed with Verve Records, who reissued most of her Bet-Car albums on CD for the first time and made them available to wider audiences. In 1988 she won a Grammy for her album Look What I Got! and sang in a guest appearance on The Cosby Show (episode "How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?"). In 1994 she performed at the White House and was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall. She was the subject of a 1994 short film by Dick Fontaine, Betty Carter: New All the Time. . .
. . .In 1997 she was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton. This award was one of thousands, but Carter considered this medal to be her most important that she received in her lifetime. . .
Carter continued to perform, tour, and record, as well as search for new talent until she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the summer of 1998. Betty Carter died on September 26, 1998, at the age of 69, and was later cremated.
Legacy
Carter often recruited young accompanists for performances and recordings, insisting that she "learned a lot from these young players, because they're raw and they come up with things that I would never think about doing."
1993 was Carter's biggest year of innovation, creating a program called Jazz Ahead, which took 20 students who were given the opportunity to spend an entire week training and composing with Carter, a program that still exists to this day and is hosted in The Kennedy Center.
Betty Carter is considered responsible for discovering great jazz talent, her list including such names as John Hicks, Curtis Lundy, Mulgrew Miller, Cyrus Chestnut, Dave Holland, Stephen Scott, Kenny Washington, Benny Green and more. . .
"One cannot embrace true vocal jazz without embracing Betty Carter. I think most singers develop along the lines of imitation, assimilation and hopefully innovation. Not many can boast having achieved the latter. None would argue that Betty did, and that she held the doors open for anyone who would enter." -Vanessa Rubin
"She was a great inspiration, and she always had her own individual approach to things. Betty wasn't interested in getting a hit record; she was more faithful to the tradition of the music for the sake of the best that you could possibly be. A lot of people would comment about how tough she was, but what I got out of that was her demand for excellence." -John Hicks (played piano with Carter 1966–1968, 1974–1980)
"She was like a big sister to me. I learned more about how to play the drums from Betty Carter than I have from some drummers! She was the epitome of a serious, strong jazz artist – strong woman. When you came off her bandstand, you'd be wringing your shirt out! You ain't gonna sit up there and look cute – she'd kick your ass more than a horn player. Betty was phenomenal!" -Greg Bandy (drums: 1973; 1980-'82). . ."
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