Benny Carter, whose versatility as a first-rate saxophonist, composer-arranger and bandleader made him a leading figure in jazz for more than eight decades, has died. He was 95.
Carter died Saturday morning in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following a brief illness. Carter was hospitalized in late June with bronchitis and other ailments, said publicist Virginia Wicks.
Although he never attained the broad public recognition of contemporaries such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, he was among the most influential players and leaders in the history of the music. Indeed, among jazz professionals and knowledgeable fans, nobody had a better reputation.
Benny Carter photo -- The photo accompanying the obituary of Benny Carter was incorrectly credited to Associated Press. It was from the New York Times.
"I stand in awe of the proficiency his vast experience has given him," Ellington said years ago in a tribute to Carter. "He has tremendous scope, instrumentally, musically."
"He was a great man and a great human being," said Quincy Jones, the multifaceted entertainment industry figure, who was also a leading jazz composer and bandleader. "He gave lots of young guys help and encouragement, including myself."
"He left the room [Saturday] with the same dignity he lived with," Jones told The Times on Sunday.
Critics voiced similar words of praise.
"He ranks among the leading individualists in jazz, not only as an alto saxophonist, but as an arranger of exceptional skill," jazz critic Nat Hentoff said Sunday. "Nobody could arrange for a reed section like Carter.
"He had the clearest alto saxophone sound that I can ever recall," Hentoff said. "It was crystalline and thrilling. He was always reaching for something new and never fell back on familiar licks."
While Carter's musical talent peaked in jazz, he did not limit himself to that form. He was highly successful as a composer, orchestrator and arranger of all types of music for motion pictures and television.
Although first and foremost a musician, and a man not given to crusading, Carter was one of the first blacks to succeed in the musical side of the film industry.
His view was that race should have nothing to do with a person's acceptance. Once, according to an anecdote related by a biographer, a woman asked Carter: "Is your piano player white or black?" Carter replied: "I don't know -- I never asked him."
