This LP contains singer
Betty Carter's earliest recordings. On one date she is heard performing six standards with a quartet also featuring pianist
Ray Bryant ("I Could Write a Book" and "The Way You Look Tonight" are highpoints). The other session, which was only released for the first time in 1980, has five songs on which
Carter is joined by a 14-piece band arranged by
Gigi Gryce; this version of "Social Call" is a classic. Naturally
Carter sounds much more conventional on these performances than she would 30 to 40 years later, but already her voice was immediately recognizable. ~ Scott Yanow