Bettye LaVette was hailed by the New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation”. George Jones said “Bettye is truly a singer's singer”.
Her career began in 1962, at 16 years old, in Detroit, Michigan. Her first single, "My Man-He's A Lovin' Man", was on Atlantic Records. Throughout the 60s and 70s, she recorded for several major labels. She also appeared in the Broadway Musical Bubbling Brown Sugar alongside Honi Coles and Cab Calloway.
The 2000's started what she calls her “Fifth Career”. She received the R&B Foundation's Pioneer Award, won several Blues Music Awards, was inducted into The Blues Hall Of Fame, received the Legacy Award from the Americana Music Association, and has received 7 Grammy Nominations.
Her most recent release, LaVette!, consists of all songs written by Randall Bramblett, whom she considers “the best writer I have heard in the last 30 years”. The album is on Jay-Vee Records, which is co-owned by Steve Jordan and Meegan Voss.
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. She's a great messenger, a communicator, an interpreter. Bettye LaVette is like a combination of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis.”
Now, at 78 years old and in her 62nd year in show business, she 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.
https://www.bettyelavette.com/
