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26-408: Songbook Volume II is an album by American saxophonist and composer Benny Carter , released in 1997 by MusicMasters Records . AllMusic reviewer Ken Dryden stated, "The 1997 release of this CD helped Benny Carter celebrate his 90th birthday, featuring 14 of his original ballads by a dozen guests, in addition to a warm tribute to his wife of many years, 'When Hilma Smiles,' sung by Carter himself in

52-620: A Grammy Award for his solo on "Prelude to a Kiss" and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1989, Lincoln Center celebrated Carter's 82nd birthday with a set of his songs sung by Ernestine Anderson and Sylvia Syms . In 1990, he was named Jazz Artist of the Year in the DownBeat and JazzTimes polls. He was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1996 and received honorary doctorates from Princeton (1974), Rutgers (1991), Harvard (1994), and

78-553: A car accident. Chu Berry is the unofficial name of a series of saxophones produced by the C.G. Conn company during the 1920s, though it is more accurate to refer to them as the Conn New Wonder Series II. The company never officially used the term "Chu Berry" to refer to any of their saxophones. In fact, Berry played a model of tenor sax generally known as the Conn Transitional and is not known to have ever played

104-415: A friendly, unpretentious manner. His smooth alto sax hasn't lost anything over the decades, and the top-notch cornet of Warren Vaché is also a nice touch". All compositions by Benny Carter, except where noted. Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges , he

130-505: A legitimate jazz orchestra over the four years of his membership. Throughout his brief career, Berry was in demand as a sideman for recording sessions under the names of various other jazz artists, including Spike Hughes (1933), Bessie Smith (1933), the Chocolate Dandies (1933), Mildred Bailey (1935–1938), Teddy Wilson (1935–1938), Billie Holiday (1938–1939), Wingy Manone (1938–1939), and Lionel Hampton (1939). During

156-580: A seven-piece band which included Eddie Barefield , Kenny Clarke , and Dizzy Gillespie . In the mid-1940s he moved to Los Angeles, forming another big band, which at times included J. J. Johnson , Max Roach , and Miles Davis . But these would be his last big bands. With the exception of occasional concerts, performing with Jazz at the Philharmonic , and recording, he ceased working as a touring big band bandleader. Los Angeles provided him many opportunities for studio work, and these dominated his time during

182-853: The New England Conservatory of Music (1998). In 2016, the National Museum of American History made Carter the subject of its Jazz Appreciation Month poster. In 2000, he was given the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton . Information from AllMusic.com With Louis Bellson With Dizzy Gillespie With Jazz at the Philharmonic With Peggy Lee With Dave Pell With Nancy Wilson Chu Berry According to music critic Gary Giddins , musicians called him "Chu" either because he chewed on

208-784: The jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in New York City, which helped lead to the development of bebop . The song " Christopher Columbus ", which Berry composed with lyrics by Andy Razaf , was the last important hit recording of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra and was recorded in 1936. It is one of the most popular riff tunes from the swing era and was later incorporated into Jimmy Mundy 's arrangement of " Sing, Sing, Sing " for Benny Goodman 's band. Four sessions were organized with Berry as leader, in 1937, 1938, and 1941. Berry died on October 30, 1941, in Conneaut, Ohio , after being in

234-565: The 1930s. Carter's short-lived Orchestra played the Harlem Club in New York but only recorded a handful of records for Columbia , OKeh and Vocalion . The OKeh sides were issued under the name The Chocolate Dandies . In 1933, Carter participated in sessions with British composer/musician Spike Hughes , who visited New York City to organize recordings with prominent African American musicians. These 14 sides plus four by Carter's big band, titled at

260-515: The Collegians and became their bandleader through 1929, including a performance at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. In his early 20s, Carter worked as arranger for Fletcher Henderson after that position was vacated by Don Redman . He had no formal education in arranging, learning by trial and error, getting on his knees and looking at the existing charts, "writing the lead trumpet first and

286-655: The Netherlands. In these settings, Carter played trumpet, clarinet, piano, alto and tenor saxophone, and provided occasional vocals. In 1938, he recorded in Paris with Django Reinhardt I'm Coming Virginia and Farewell Blues in his own arrangement. He returned to America that same year and found regular work leading his band at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem through 1941. The band included Shad Collins , Sidney De Paris , Vic Dickenson , and Freddie Webster . After this engagement, he led

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312-526: The decades. He wrote music and arrangements for films, such as Stormy Weather in 1943. During the 1950s and '60s, he wrote arrangements for vocalists such as Louis Armstrong , Ray Charles , Ella Fitzgerald , Peggy Lee , and Sarah Vaughan . On something of a comeback in the 1970s, Carter returned to playing saxophone again and toured the Middle East courtesy of the U.S. State Department. He began making annual visits to Europe and Japan. In 1969, Carter

338-490: The lead saxophone first—which, of course, is the hard way. It was quite some time that I did that before I knew what a score was." He left Henderson to take Redman's former job as leader of McKinney's Cotton Pickers in Detroit. In 1932, he formed a band in New York City that included Chu Berry , Sid Catlett , Cozy Cole , Bill Coleman , Ben Webster , Dicky Wells , and Teddy Wilson . Carter's arrangements were complex. Among

364-510: The most significant were "Keep a Song in Your Soul", written for Henderson in 1930, and "Lonesome Nights" and "Symphony in Riffs" from 1933, both of which show Carter's writing for saxophones. By the early 1930s, Carter and Johnny Hodges were considered the leading alto saxophonists. Carter also became a leading trumpet soloist, having rediscovered the instrument. He recorded extensively on trumpet in

390-525: The mouthpiece of his saxophone or because he had a Fu Manchu mustache . Berry was born in Wheeling, West Virginia , to father Brown Berry and mother Maggie Glasgow Berry. He graduated from Lincoln High School, in Wheeling, then attended West Virginia State College for three years. His sister Ann played piano. Berry became interested in music at an early age, playing alto saxophone, at first with local bands. He

416-579: The novelty hit " Cow-Cow Boogie " recorded by Ella Mae Morse , and the expansive Central City Sketches , written when he was 80 years old and recorded with the American Jazz Orchestra. Carter died at the age of 95 in Los Angeles at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on July 12, 2003, from complications of bronchitis . He was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1978, he

442-522: The period 1934–1939, while saxophone pioneer Hawkins was playing in Europe, Berry was one of several younger tenor saxophonists, such as Budd Johnson , Ben Webster , and Lester Young , who vied for supremacy on their instrument. Berry's mastery of advanced harmony was an influence on Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker . Parker named his first son Leon in Chu's honor. Berry was among the musicians who took part in

468-520: The time Spike Hughes and His Negro Orchestra , were initially only issued in England. The musicians were from Carter's band and included Red Allen , Dicky Wells, Wayman Carver , Coleman Hawkins , J. C. Higginbotham , and Chu Berry . Carter moved to London and spent two years as arranger for the BBC Big Band . In England, France, and Scandinavia he recorded with local musicians, and he took his band to

494-436: Was a pioneer on the alto saxophone . From the beginning of his career in the 1920s, he worked as an arranger including written charts for Fletcher Henderson 's big band that shaped the swing style. He had an unusually long career that lasted into the 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was nominated for eight Grammy Awards , which included receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award . Carter was born in New York City in 1907. He

520-523: Was a visiting lecturer at Harvard for a week in 1987. Morroe Berger wrote Benny Carter – A Life in American Music (1982), a two-volume work about Carter's career. Time had little effect on Carter's abilities. During the 1980s, he wrote the long composition Central City Sketches which was performed at Cooper Union by the American Jazz Orchestra . Another long composition, Glasgow Suite ,

546-573: Was given piano lessons by his mother and others in the neighborhood. He played trumpet and experimented briefly with C-melody saxophone before settling on alto saxophone. In the 1920s, he performed with June Clark , Billy Paige, and Earl Hines , then toured as a member of the Wilberforce Collegians led by Horace Henderson . He appeared on record for the first time in 1927 as a member of the Paradise Ten led by Charlie Johnson . He returned to

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572-723: Was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame . In 1980, he received the Golden Score award of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers . His 75th birthday was commemorated by a radio station in New York that played his music nonstop for over a week. The National Endowment for the Arts gave him the NEA Jazz Masters Award for 1986. He was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. In 1994 he won

598-403: Was inspired to take up the tenor saxophone after hearing Coleman Hawkins on tour. Most of Berry's career was spent with swing bands: Sammy Stewart, 1929–1930, with whom he switched to tenor sax; Benny Carter , 1932–1933; Teddy Hill , 1933–1935; Fletcher Henderson , 1935–1937; and Cab Calloway , his best-known affiliation, from 1937 to 1941. He is credited with turning Calloway's band into

624-400: Was its versatility as musician, bandleader, arranger, and composer. He helped define the sound of alto saxophone, but he also performed and recorded on soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, and piano. He helped establish a foundation for arranging as far back as 1930 when he arranged "Keep a Song in Your Soul" for Fletcher Henderson's big band. His compositions include

650-537: Was performed in Scotland. Lincoln Center commissioned him to write "Good Vibes" in 1990. The National Endowment for the Arts gave him a grant that led Tales of the Rising Sun Suite and Harlem Renaissance Suite . This music was performed in 1992 when he was 85 years old. Carter had an unusually long career. He is one of few musicians to have recorded in eight different decades. Another characteristic of his career

676-484: Was persuaded to spend a weekend at Princeton University by Morroe Berger, a sociology professor at Princeton who wrote about jazz. This led to a new outlet for Carter's talent: teaching. For the next nine years he visited Princeton five times, most of them brief stays except for one in 1973 when he spent a semester there as a visiting professor. In 1974, Princeton gave him an honorary doctorate. He conducted teaching at workshops and seminars at several other universities and

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