The late, great jazz bassist Keter Betts left a monumental musical legacy and a host of friends and fans. He will be honored Friday at Jazz Night, a popular weekly venue at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Washington. The musicians paying him tribute have all worked with him and benefited from his delightful sense of humor.
Pianist Robert Redd, spokesperson for the ensemble, was a member of Keter’s trio for more than 15 years. He will be joined by Buck Hill on reeds, Steve Abshire on guitar, James King on bass, Harold Mann on drums and vocalist Alison Crockett in a program celebrating Keter’s remarkable repertoire.
Many of his original compositions will be featured, along with the classic standards by Ellington and others that he admired.
“Keter was a major figure in bringing bossa nova to this country,” Redd says. “He and Charlie Byrd went to Brazil on a U.S. State Department tour and fell in love with what was then a local musical style. We’ll play ‘Desafinado,’ one of his favorites. You heard it playing everywhere in the early 1960s.”
Jazz Night at Westminster has been an uninterrupted tradition for eight years. It began as a way of bringing together people of all races and faiths with a common love of music. Drawing from the deep jazz scene in Washington, jazz promoter and former Redskin halfback Dick Smith puts together incomparable programs each week with world class artists. Friday Jazz Night is so successful that Monday Blues Night was launched in September.
“Keter enjoyed the Westminster gig so much that I began playing with him there about six years ago,” Redd says. “He was a huge influence on me and got me involved in the Early Learning Through the Arts program at Wolf Trap. He developed it as a way of introducing live music to young audiences.I’ll be there again in March with his continuing Head Start Program for Kids.”
Jennifer Betts emphasizes that her father’s love of involving children in the arts carried over to his daily life.
“He was so incredibly modest that he’d be humbled by the Jazz Night tribute,” she says. “It was a privilege growing up with such a wonderful human being and an honor to have had his influence in my life.”
Redd and his brother, vibraphonist/percussionist Chuck Redd, became professional musicians while still in high school. When they are not touring or recording, they often perform locally with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, Maryland and at Blues Alley, where “A Redd Christmas” rang in the holidays.
‘Remembering Keter Betts’
A Jazz Night special event
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday
Venue: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I St. SW, Washington
Tickets: $5
Food: Fish Fry with fish, chicken and collard greens available from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Information: Call 202-484-7700, or vsit www.westminsterdc.org
