This is part of a roundtable on The Best Band No One Has Ever Heard Of. The index to the roundtable is here.
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II have a healthy obsession with Betty Carter; you might even call it a bit of girl crush. I am not ashamed. She has changed my whole perspective on jazz, music composition and vocal experimentation. I have never heard anyone like her. She put such a spin on jazz interpretation and syncopation and creates such unique soundscapes that I completely fall in love with her music and voice whenever I hear her.
 

 
Not everyone wants to be different. There are a number of songstresses who never wrote their own material, who never composed any music and yet rose to the heights of fame. But Carter, singing her own songs or others, just blew the top off any stage she ever stepped on.
 

 
The first songs I heard were “Once Upon a Summertime” and “Stay As Sweet as You Are” on my uncle’s IPod touch. It was loaded with Black music because he is a jazz musician. I would listen to the music while going to and from work and errands on the train in New York City. There was something about Betty Carter’s voice and style and pulled me in and trapped me.

“Once Upon a Summertime and “Stay As Sweet As You Are” are an interesting introduction to Carter’s music. They’re both from a late-career 1992 album called, “It’s Not About the Melody,” and they’re soft, vulnerable, and sensual. That’s not exactly uncharacteristic of Carter’s music, but she’s better known for fast paced, driving be-bop. with complicated rhythm patterns, better exemplified by the 1990 album “Droppin’ Things.”

They way she interpreted the music, the stories, the irony and humor of that album floored me. I loved the way she interpreted one of her earlier songs “Open the Door,” too, and her ability to refresh and reinvent at 60 years old was inspiring. Her music gave me something to aspire to as an artist.
 

 
Carter’s live performance of “My Favorite Things” in Berlin and her performance of “Amazon” were over the top and other worldly. There are some composers and vocalist who just seem like they come from another planet or another realm. Sun Ra was that way. Nina Simone and Jimi Hendrix were that way. Betty Carter to me, is one of the most talented and influential female jazz composers of the 20th century.
 

I am a professional singer and Carter’s influenced touched me. There are some artists who influenced the sounds I sang, but she influenced my musical instincts. She taught me to experiment more with my voice and to boil instrumentation down to simplistic but creative syncopation patterns.

She opened a new world to me. I hope that when I am 50 or 60 years old I will be composing complex music for handpicked band members who will create the aesthetic I imagine, if not dream of. Her music has given me the confidence and vision to create a long term musical goal for myself. I am still as obsessed with her as I want the day I first heard her music. It is a love affair that I will cherish for the rest of my life and musical career.
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Jordannah Elizabeth is a musician, music journalist, author, model and the founder of The Process Records Media Group and the nonprofit, Publik / Private. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland and has dedicated her time and career to helping the advancement of artists and creative professionals