Benny Carter dies

LOS ANGELES (Benmny Carter Official Website) - Pioneering jazz musician Benny Carter has died in hospital in the United States aged 95. Carter, a big band leader who helped break Hollywood's bar to black composers, had been complaining of bronchitis and fatigue, according to a family friend.
He had been in hospital for about two weeks and died on Saturday at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. "Although physically weak, he remained completely lucid and enjoyed speaking with many of his friends worldwide over the past few weeks," a statement on his website said.
Carter was one of the first black composers and arrangers to work on mainstream Hollywood films.

In a career spanning seven decades, he played with such jazz greats as Miles Davis, Fats Waller and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also credited with launching Ella Fitzgerald's career by introducing her to bandleader Chick Webb.

Producer Quincy Jones, a close friend of Carter, said: "If Benny was not there, we wouldn't be here. We walked through the door on his shoulders. He was a quiet and dignified man. And one of a kind."
Carter, an alto saxophonist, established the swing-era big band sound through ensemble compositions for the Fletcher Henderson orchestra and later his own band.

Born in 1907 in New York City, he studied piano with his mother and was inspired by a neighbour who played with Duke Ellington's band.

In 1941 he formed a sextet that included pioneers of the bebop style of jazz such as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and drummer Kenny Clarke.
Carter formed the first international and interracial band in the Netherlands in the mid-1930s. His compositions such as Blues in My Heart and When Lights Are Low have become jazz standards.
Carter is survived by his wife Hilma and daughter Joyce. His funeral would be private but fans would be given information about public memorials, his site said.