Keter Betts with the Bart Weisman Jazz Group, Washington, DC (1991)

Keter Betts (1928 – 2005)

William Thomas “Keter” Betts was born on July 22, 1928 in Port Chester, New York. He started out playing the drums and in 1946 Betts switched to bass, the instrument on which he would become one of the most sought after and respected masters.

Through the course of his career, Betts performed with a list of people who read like a who's who in jazz. Betts played with Dinah Washington from 1951 through 1956. In 1963 he teamed up with Ella Fitzgerald for a musical relationship that lasted an incredible 24 years. Betts also played with Clifford Brown, Nat Adderley, Oscar Peterson, Vince Guaraldi and Count Basie just to name a few. In all, he has performed on over 100 recordings. He never received his proper credit for being instrumental in bringing Latin music, like the Bossa Nova and Samba, to Jazz back in the 1960's.