OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With The Beguiling Betty Bennett!

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Greetings, horlettes, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Today's starry songstress studied piano and voice in college, as she was set on becoming an opera singer. But once she heard a few Duke Ellington LPs, introduced to her by her mother, opera was dunzo. Jazz had infected her soul, as it had for so many in the early 1930s. Back then, jazz was also called "devil's music," since it was created by Black musicians, of course, but also because it was linked to the Women's Liberation movement, and unlike classical music, it wasn't based on any foundation of specific rules and techniques. Improvisation was scary - and, yes, it increased immorality and promiscuity. I know, I know, I can hear you now: "Sign me up!" But this was a different time, as they say.

Lucky for us, at the Manor's "Cake Shakin' Lounge and Dessertery," DJ Li'l Cat will be spinning her tunes tonight. Do you recognize this gently coquettish opera-turned-jazz performer?


It's Betty Bennett, who arrived in NYC in the 1930s with only 25 smackers in her purse and big dreams - which she achieved, at first riding the big band wave by performing with all the famous names, like Claude Thornhill, Charlie Ventura and Stan Kenton. As swing gave way to bop, Betty’s style fit right in. Why? Because she could swing, she could bop, and bring both warmth and sharp sophistication to her delivery. She was never content to stay in one lane. And she didn’t merely ride the beat, either, she toyed with it. Her sense of rhythm could turn a straight melody into something slyly syncopated, teasing the listener and, at times, the musicians she performed with - who sometimes had no idea what she'd do next. It's no wonder that she was considered a "musician's singer." They all adored and admired Betty.

Married to jazz bassist Iggy Shevak, then Andre Previn, then Mundell Lowe, she kept performing for audiences here and across the pond until the late 1980s. Living to the ripe old age of ninety-seven, she gave this truly delightful and informative late-in-life interview:


She would only record a few LPs, one of them being 1959's sensational "I Love To Sing." It's a strong mark of her originality that she manages to make even "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" sound fresh - no, really - but then Betty knew how to work her magic (click through for the complete LP). 

What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾

Photo Credits: Getty Images, United Artists Records

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