Keter Betts

Keter Betts (1928-2005) was an American jazz bassist. Born William Thomas Betts in Port Chester, New York, he was nicknamed "Keter", a short form of the word mosquito.

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Many better-known musicians (Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Nat Adderley, Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd, etc.), recognizing Keter's talent, invited him to perform with them professionally. Early in Keter's career he had played with Earl Bostic's R&B band. In 1962, together with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd, he was instrumental in introducing the bossa nova style to American audiences via their Jazz Samba recording. In the mid-1960s, Keter began a nearly quarter century relationship as a bassist with Ella Fitzgerald.

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Keter Betts resided in the Washington, DC area for longer than a half century. He suffered from diabetes and, on August 6, 2005, he died at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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American: :This page disambiguates the many uses of American. For an article about those various uses, please see Use of the word American....

Jazz: :For other article subjects named Jazz see jazz (disambiguation)....

Bassist: A bassist is a musician who plays a double bass or electric bass (also referred to as bass guitar). This page lists famous bassists in four categories, depending on whether they are primarily known for playing electric bass, double bass, both, or their main instrument is unknown. Certain musical gen...