[Mb-civic] Jazz Master's Final Chord - Eugene Robinson on Keter Betts - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Jazz Master's Final Chord

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, August 9, 2005; Page A17

A great jazz number doesn't fade out like a mere pop song or rock 
anthem. A great jazz number has an ending -- often abrupt, sometimes 
even in a different key, but always an ending that fits what has come 
before. So it was on Saturday with one of the great careers in the 
history of this surpassing American art form.

If you've never heard of Keter Betts, who was found dead at 77 in his 
apartment near Washington, you're not alone. Betts played upright bass, 
not one of the glamorous solo instruments. But you've heard of some of 
the people he toured, jammed and recorded with: Dinah Washington. Ella 
Fitzgerald. Oscar Peterson. Nat Adderley. Stan Getz. Charlie Byrd.

No fade-out: Betts was working at his craft until the very end. He was 
scheduled to play at the Kennedy Center next month; later this week he 
was supposed to participate in a jam session with local musicians.

<>I mark the passing of this man who never achieved the fame he deserved 
because the story of his life and work is so quintessentially American. 
Born William Thomas Betts in Port Chester, N.Y., to a single mother -- 
that's two strikes already, black and poor -- he bootstrapped his way to 
the top of his profession through talent, persistence and luck. He 
haunted stage doors until the musicians he idolized would come out to 
talk and offer advice, maybe even listen to him play. He took advantage 
of every opportunity and never came to a gig with anything other than 
his best.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/08/AR2005080801149.html 

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