Betts, Keter
Legendary jazz bassist William Thomas "Keter" Betts was born July 22, 1928, in Port Chester, New York. While running an errand for his mother while in the fifth grade, Betts came across a parade. Instead of continuing on his way, he followed the parade all over town, entranced by the music. That incident marked the beginning of his love affair with music.
Starting out on the drums, Betts tired of carrying the set up and down the four floors to his family apartment, and in 1946, he switched to the bass. When Betts was only nineteen, he landed his first professional gig, playing for thirteen weeks in Washington, D.C., with saxophonist Carmen Leggio. After touring the country from 1949 to 1951, Betts met jazz singer Dinah Washington and toured with her from 1951 until 1956. The next five years found Betts working in the hottest clubs in the country and touring Europe and South America with Charlie Byrd and Woody Herman. In 1964, Betts joined up with Ella Fitzgerald for a short tour. He would rejoin her several more times, and their career together would span twenty-four years.
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| Publication Date | Publishing Account | Status | Note | View |
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2022-05-06 01:05:02 pm |
Eden Orelove |
published |
User published constellation |
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2020-10-03 03:10:40 pm |
Joseph Glass |
published |
User published constellation |
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2016-08-13 05:08:00 am |
System Service |
published |
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2016-08-13 05:08:00 am |
System Service |
ingest cpf |
Initial ingest from EAC-CPF |
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