“Classic soul singing doesn’t get any better.” – The New York Times
“I ain’t got no f*cking other plan,” says the legendary Bettye LaVette. She’s talking about her 61-year storied career, beginning in 1960s Detroit, with a resurgence in the mid-2000s. For her latest LP, simply titled LaVette! (June 2023), she teamed once again with producer Steve Jordan. An interpreter without peer, Bettye chose to record an album of songs written by Randall Bramblett. “I think he’s the best songwriter I’ve heard in the past 30 years,” says LaVette, “and I just discovered him eight years ago.”
“Bettye LaVette is like a combination of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Miles Davis,” says Jordan. “When I prepare a band for her, I make sure we have it together. When she joins us, we’re only gonna get one or two takes, because she puts her heart and soul into each performance.” The late, great George Jones, called her “a singer’s singer”.
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Bettye’s parents, Louisiana migrants, ran a club out of their home. They sold corn liquor and chicken sandwiches and spun records for the Black auto-parts workers and traveling gospel groups who didn’t have a hangout to kick back in and call their own. She was a toddler, listening in on old folks’ business; learning old folks’ ways.
“When Bettye gets a hold of a song, it becomes her song,” Jordan explains. “It’s like she wrote it.”
She is a six-time Grammy nominee, has received a Pioneer Award from The Rhythm & Blues Foundation, has won several Blues Music Awards, and has been inducted into The Blues Hall Of Fame. Bettye is one of very few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 1960s and is still creating vital recordings today. She and her full band will be presenting songs from the new album as well as some older favorites.
LEARN MORE: http://www.bettyelavette.com/
Photo Credit: Danny Clinch
- Genre:
- R&B/Soul
