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Keter Betts

{{Short description|American jazz double bassist}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Keter Betts

| image =

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name = William Thomas Betts

| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|7|22|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Port Chester, New York

| origin =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|08|06|1928|07|22|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Silver Spring, Maryland

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Bass

| years_active =

| label =

| associated_acts =Charlie Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Ella Fitzgerald

}}

William Thomas "Keter" Betts (July 22, 1928 – August 6, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist.

Early life and education

Born in Port Chester, New York, he was nicknamed "Keter", a short form of the word mosquito.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/07/AR2005080700935.html|title=Jazz Bassist Keter Betts Dies at 77|date=August 8, 2005|newspaper=Washington Post|accessdate=January 18, 2011}} He graduated from Port Chester High School in 1946, where he played drums, tympani, tuba, glockenspiel, and bass fiddle.

Career

Many better-known musicians, such as Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Nat Adderley, Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd and others, recognizing Betts's talent, invited him to perform with them professionally. He was a member of Earl Bostic's R&B band from April 1949 to August 1951. Accompanied Dinah Washington/December 1951 to October 1956. He later became a member of the Charlie Byrd Trio in 1957. In 1962, he was instrumental in introducing the bossa nova style to American audiences via their Jazz Samba recording.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/arts/music/22betts.html|title=Keter Betts, 77, Jazz Bassist Who Spread the Bossa Nova, Is Dead|date=August 22, 2005|work=The New York Times|accessdate=January 18, 2011}} He worked with Bobby Timmons and recorded an album in 1964 before joining Ella Fitzgerald as an accompanist in October of that year. He toured with Fitzgerald as a bassist for many years after. He left Fitzgerald's band and worked with Roberta Flack, Joe Williams, Johnny Hartman, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Mann, Billy Eckstine, and Chris Connor. He rejoined Fitzgerald in December 1971 and remained with her until her retirement.

Personal life

A widowed father of five children, Betts resided in the Washington, D.C., area for more than a half century. He died of a heart attack at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, in August 2005.

Selected discography

As Leader

  • Bass, Buddies & Blues (Keter Betts Music, 1998)
  • Bass, Buddies, Blues & Beauty Too (Keter Betts Music, 1999)
  • Live at the East Coast Jazz Festival (Keter Betts Music, 2000)

With Clifford Brown

With Charlie Byrd

With Ella Fitzgerald

With Tommy Flanagan

With Etta Jones

With Sam Jones

With Junior Mance

  • Blue Mance (Chiaroscuro, 1994)
  • The Floating Jazz Festival Trio (Chiaroscuro, 1995)
  • The FJF Trio with Joe Temperley (Chiaroscuro, 1996)
  • The Floating Jazz Festival Trio (Chiaroscuro, 1997)
  • The Floating Jazz Festival Trio (Chiaroscuro, 1998)
  • A Chiaroscuro Christmas (Chiaroscuro)

With Helen Merrill

With Bobby Timmons

With Louie Bellson

  • Salute (Chiaroscuro, 1994)

With Johnny Frigo, Herb Ellis and Lou Carter

  • The Soft Winds, Then and Now (Chiaroscuro, 1996)

With Jay McShann

  • Hootie (Chiaroscuro, 1997)

With Red Holloway, O. C. Smith and Phil Upchurch

  • Standing Room Only (Chiaroscuro, 1998)

With Waymon Reed

With C. I. Williams

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.visionaryproject.com/bettswilliam Keter Betts's oral history video excerpts] at The National Visionary Leadership Project
  • {{YouTube|EhQfGODnvww|Keter Betts playing Blue Bossa}} behind Tommy Flanagan.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betts, Keter}}

Category:1928 births

Category:2005 deaths

Category:American jazz double-bassists

Category:American male double-bassists

Category:American bossa nova musicians

Category:People from Port Chester, New York

Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)

Category:20th-century American double-bassists

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:American male jazz musicians

Category:Statesmen of Jazz members

Category:Mapleshade Records artists