Harold Betters is an American jazz trombone player. A prominent jazz musician in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, Betters released nine LPs on Gateway Records, and three LPs for Reprise

Reprise Records

Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...

.

Born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania

Connellsville, Pennsylvania

Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA, 57 miles southeast of Pittsburgh on the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. In 1890, 5,629 people lived in Connellsville, which was a borough at that time...

, Betters is the brother of drummer and singer Jerry Betters. Betters studied music education at Ithaca College

Ithaca College

Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...

 for two years, and then studied at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

The Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music, locally known as the Brooklyn Conservatory, is a music conservatory located in Brooklyn, New York City. It offers a broad range of instruction in areas of American Song, jazz and gospel singing, Latin jazz, and African drumming...

 for a year. In the 1950s he made a tour with the Ray Charles

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

 big band, playing at the Apollo Theatre

Apollo Theatre

The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...

. Then he led his own quartet which included pianist John Thomas and Jerry Betters on drums. Betters, who plays in the style of Trummy Young

Trummy Young

James "Trummy" Young was a trombonist in the swing era. Although he was never really a star or a bandleader himself, he did have one hit with his version of "Margie," which he played and sang with Jimmie Lunceford's Time-Life Orchestra.-Biography:Growing up in Savannah, GA and Richmond, VA, Young...

 and Bennie Green

Bennie Green

Bennie Green was an American jazz trombonist.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and 1960s.-As leader:...

, is still active.

Selected discography

• At the Encore (1962) Gateway (reissued on CD "Remembers the Encore")
• Takes off (1963) Gateway
• Even better (1964) Gateway
• Meets Slide Hampton
  Slide Hampton
  Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...
  
  (1964) Gateway
• The big horn H.B. Records
• Swingin' on the railroad (1965) Gateway (reissued on CD)
• Ram-bunk-shush (1965) Reprise
• Do anything you wanna (1966) Gateway (reissued on CD)
• Out of sight and sound (1966) Reprise
• Funk city express (1966) Reprise
• Jazz Showcase (1977) Gateway
• With friends, live in New York (2001)

External links