An Intimate Evening with Bettye LaVette

Don’t Miss the Iconic Bettye LaVette Live at MBT

Bettye LaVette was hailed by the New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation.” She is a song stylist. Her gift is being able to take a song from any genre, whether well known or obscure, and making it completely her own. To quote another great vocalist, the late George Jones, “Bettye is truly a ‘singer’s singer.'”

These intimate shows feature LaVette and her keyboard player, Thomas West. They allow her voice to be the complete center of attention, and feature LaVette performing songs from throughout her 62-year career. Hearing her in this intimate setting, stripped down to just her voice and a piano, is a very moving experience.

LaVette’s career began in 1962, at 16 years old, with her first single “My Man — He’s A Lovin’ Man.” Throughout the 1960s and 70s, she went on to record for several major labels and appeared in the Broadway Musical Bubbling Brown Sugar alongside Honi Coles and Cab Calloway.

The 2000s started what LaVette 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 seven Grammy nominations! Her most recent release, LaVette!, consists of songs all written by Randall Bramblett, whom she considers “the best writer she has heard in the last 30 years.” According to Steve Jordan, who produced LaVette’s 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, LaVette is one of a very few who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 1960s and is still creating vital recordings today. LaVette and her full band are hitting the road and will be performing songs from her latest albums and some older favorites as well!