“Classic soul singing doesn’t get any better.” – New York Times
An intimate evening with Bettye LaVette, accompanied by Etienne Stadwijk on keyboards.
The New York Times hailed Bettye LaVette as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation”. Here, she serves as song stylist, able to take a song from any genre and make it completely her own. To quote the late, great George Jones, “Bettye is truly a ‘singer’s singer’.”
These intimate shows feature Bettye performing songs and telling stories from throughout her sixty-four-year career. Furthermore, hearing Bettye in this setting, stripped down to just her voice and keyboards, provides a very captivating experience.
Her career began in 1962, at sixteen years old, in Detroit, Michigan. Atlantic Records released her first single, “My Man-He’s A Lovin’ Man”. Then, throughout the 60s and 70s, she recorded for several major labels, but never broke through. Additionally, she appeared in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar alongside Honi Coles and Cab Calloway.
Since her resurgence in 2000, the R&B Foundation awarded her its Pioneer Award, and she has won several Blues Music Awards. Also, both the Blues Hall of Fame and R&B Hall of Fame inducted her. Moreover, the Americana Music Association presented her with the Legacy Award, and she has received seven 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. Bettye LaVette is like a combination of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis.”
Now, LaVette is eighty years old and in her sixty-fourth year in show business. Here, she is one of very few who were active during the birth of soul music in the 1960s who still perform and create vital recordings today.
Recommended for fans of Bob Moses, Sam Cooke, Andra Day and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.
