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Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones, May 16, 1929〔Bauer, William R. ''Open the Door: The Life and Music of Betty Carter'' (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2002), p. 9.〕 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative interpretation of lyrics and melodies.〔("Betty Carter" ), Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2012.〕 The vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked, "There's really only one jazz singer – only one: Betty Carter."〔Bauer, William R., p. xiv.〕 ==Early life== Carter was born in Flint, Michigan, and grew up in Detroit, where her father, James Jones, was the musical director of a Detroit church and her mother, Bessie, was a housewife. As a child, Carter was raised to be extremely independent and to not expect nurturing from her family. Even thirty years after leaving home, Carter was still very aware of and affected by the home life she was raised in, and was quoted saying: :"I have been far removed from my immediate family. There's been no real contact of phone calls home every week to find out how everybody is.... As far as my family is concerned, it's been a lonesome trek.... It's probably just as much my fault as it is theirs, and I can't blame anybody for it. But there was no real closeness, where the family urged me on, or said...'We're proud'...and all that. No, no...none of that happened." Despite the isolation from her family that Carter felt due to their lack of support, it is possible to attribute her fighting spirit and determination to make it in the music business to this sense of abandonment, leading her to be the legend that she is today.〔Bauer, ''Open the Door'', p. 7.〕 She studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory at the age of fifteen, but did not exceed a modest level of expertise.〔Bauer, ''Open the Door'', p. 17.〕 At the age of sixteen, Carter began singing.〔 As her parents were not big proponents of her pursuing a singing career, Carter would sneak out at night to audition for amateur shows. After winning first place at her first amateur competition, Carter felt as though she were being accepted into the music world and decided that she must pursue it tirelessly.〔Bauer, ''Open the Door'', p. 21.〕 When Carter began performing live, she was too young to be admitted into bars, so she obtained a forged birth certificate to gain entry in order to perform.〔Bauer, ''Open the Door'', p. 22.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Betty Carter」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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