''Songbook'' is an album by American saxophonist and composer

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 was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

, released in 1996 by

MusicMasters Records MusicMasters was a record label that was based in Ocean Township, New Jersey. History MusicMasters was founded in the late 1970s by Albert Nissim and his sons Robert and Jeffrey, who owned the Musical Heritage Society, which had previously on ...

.Benny Carter: Selected Discography – Bibliography
accessed June 10, 2019

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Scott Yanow stated "Due to his being such a talented altoist, arranger and occasional trumpeter for seven decades, it is often forgotten that Benny Carter wrote some worthy songs along the way ... The ambitious program includes five Carter songs that were receiving their world premiere; in addition Carter also wrote or co-wrote the lyrics to nine of the pieces. The singers all show respect for the melody and words ... The vocalists consistently seem quite inspired by the unique project. There are many short Carter and Warren Vache solos and, even with the emphasis on ballads, there is more variety than one might expect. The well-conceived tribute is easily recommended".

Track listing

All compositions by Benny Carter, except where noted. # "Only Trust Your Heart" (Benny Carter,

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premie ...

) – 5:28 # "All That Jazz" (Carter,

Al Stillman Al Stillman ''(né'' Albert Irving Silverman; 26 June 1901 Manhattan, New York City, New York – 17 February 1979 Manhattan, New York City, New York) was an American lyricist. Biography Al Stillman was born as Albert Irving Silverman to American ...

) – 4:53 # "I Was Wrong" – 4:21 # "Rain" – 4:58 # "

Cow-Cow Boogie "Cow Cow Boogie (Cuma-Ti-Yi-Yi-Ay)" is a "country-boogie"-style blues song, with music was written by Don Raye, and lyrics were written by Benny Carter and Gene De Paul. The song was written for the 1942 Abbott & Costello film '' Ride 'Em Cowboy'' ...

" (

Don Raye Don Raye (born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr., March 16, 1909 – January 29, 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", " The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thr ...

, Carter,

Gene de Paul Gene Vincent de Paul (June 17, 1919 – February 27, 1988) was an American pianist, composer and songwriter. Biography Born in New York City, he served in the United States Army during World War II. He was married to Billye Louise Files (Novem ...

) – 5:32 # "Fresh Out of Love" – 5:37 # "Speak Now" – 4:54 # "A Kiss from You" (Carter,

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

) – 5:27 # "You Bring Out the Best in Me" – 4:15 # "My Kind of Trouble Is You" (Carter, Paul Vandervoort II) – 5:46 # "When Lights Are Low" (Carter,

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", " I Ain't Got Nobody", " Royal Garden Blues", " I've Found a N ...

) – 4:05 # "Lonely Woman" (Carter,

Ray Sonin Ray Sonin (23 June 1907–20 August 1991) was a British-born broadcaster on Toronto radio station CFRB who hosted several popular programs, including ''Calling All Britons'' and ''Down Memory Lane''. In the UK he was an influential music jour ...

) – 6:33 # "Key Largo" (Carter,

Karl Suessdorf Karl A. Suessdorf (April 28, 1911 – February 25, 1982) was an American songwriter. Biography The son of Henry F. Suessdorf, he was born in Valdez, Alaska, United States, where his father operated from 1907 to 1917 the Copper Block Buffet, a ...

, Leah Worth) – 4:32 # "We Were in Love" – 6:00 # "I See You" – 4:48

Personnel

– alto saxophone * Warren Vaché – cornet (tracks 1–3, 5–7, 9, 11, 13 & 14) *Chris Neville – piano (tracks 1–14) *

Steve LaSpina Steven Frank LaSpina (born March 24, 1954) is an American jazz bassist who plays both upright and electric bass. Life and career Steve LaSpina was born in Wichita Falls, Texas; his father and grandfather both played in dance bands. He attended th ...

– bass (tracks 1–14) *

Sherman Ferguson Sherman Eugene Ferguson (October 31, 1944 – January 22, 2006) was an American jazz drummer. For a time he was a member of the jazz trio Heard Ranier Ferguson. Background Ferguson once said that when people asked him what he did, he wouldn't ...

– drums (tracks 1, 3–9, 11, 12, 14 & 15)

Guests

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer, who has won five Grammy Awards for her albums. Early life and education Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mothe ...

(tracks 1 & 14),

Carmen Bradford Carmen Bradford (born July 19, 1960, in Austin, Texas) is an American jazz singer. She sang with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1983 to 1991. Bradford grew up in a musical family; her grandfather is Melvin Moore, her father Bobby Bradford, and h ...

(tracks 2 & 13),

Kenny Rankin Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin often sang notes which were in a high range to express emotion. ...

(track 2), Joe Williams (tracks 3 & 14),

Marlena Shaw Marlina Burgess (September 22, 1939 – January 19, 2024), professionally known by her stage name Marlena Shaw, was an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and continued to perform until her death. Her music has often been ...

(track 4),

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

(track 5),

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...

(track 6),

Billy Stritch Billy Stritch (born February 12, 1962) is an American composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist. For many years he was best known as a confidant, music director, and piano player for Liza Minnelli. Early life and career Stritch was born on ...

(track 7),

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and oth ...

(track 8),

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

, (track 9),

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a popular music, pop music ...

(track 10), Weslia Whitfield (track 11), Nancy Marano (track 12),

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

(track 15) – vocals *

Gene DiNovi Eugene Salvatore "Gene" DiNovi (born May 26, 1928) is an American jazz pianist. Biography DiNovi was born in New York City. He worked with Joe Marsala and Chuck Wayne while a teenager. He was very active live and on record in the late 1940s, work ...

– piano (track 15) * John Heard – bass (track 15) *

Roy McCurdy Roy McCurdy (born November 28, 1936) is a jazz drummer. Early life McCurdy began playing drums around the age of 10 in his hometown of Rochester and took lessons from Eastman percussionist Bill Street as a teenager. He spent three years in the A ...

– drums (tracks 2, 10 & 13)

References

{{Authority control 1996 albums Benny Carter albums MusicMasters Records albums