An Evening with Bettye LaVette

An Intimate Evening with Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette was hailed by the New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation”. She is a singer in the tradition of great vocalists who have come before her like Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Dinah Washington, to name just a few. Bettye is an interpreter of the highest order. Her gift is being able to take a song from any genre, whether well known or obscure, and making it completely her own. To quote another great vocalist, the late George Jones, "Bettye is truly a 'singer's singer' ". These intimate shows feature Bettye and keyboard player, Alan Hill. They allow her voice to be the complete center of attention, and feature Bettye performing songs from throughout her 62 year career. Hearing Bettye in this intimate setting, stripped down to just her voice and a piano, is a very intense and moving experience. Her career began in 1962, at 16 years old, in Detroit, Michigan. Her first single, My Man-He's A Lovin' Man, was on Atlantic Records. Throughout the 60s and 70s, she recorded for several major labels. She also appeared in the Broadway Musical, Bubbling Brown Sugar alongside Honi Coles and Cab Calloway. The 2000's started what she calls her "Fifth Career". Since 2000, she has received the R&B Foundation's Pioneer Award, won several Blues Music Awards, was inducted into both The Blues Hall Of Fame and The R&B Hall Of Fame, received the Legacy Award from the Americana Music Association, and has received 7 Grammy Nominations. According to Steve Jordan, who produced her last three albums: “When Bettye gets a hold of a song, it becomes her song. It’s like she wrote it. She’s a great messenger, a communicator, an interpreter. Bettye LaVette is like a combination of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis." Now, at 79 years old and in her 63rd year in show business, she is one of very few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 1960s and is still creating vital recordings today.