Benny Carter
Awards and Honors
Benny Carter has received many honors and awards-from jazz magazine polls to academic degrees. Four institutions--Princeton (1974), Rutgers (1991), Harvard (1994), and the New England Conservatory (1998)--have awarded him honorary doctorates.
He has received a Lifetime Achievement award and two Grammys from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His star was recently added to Hollywood's legendary Walk of Fame.
In 1996, Carter received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. His achievements have been recognized by such organizations as ASCAP, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the American Society of Arts and Letters. Carter's ninetieth birthday was celebrated on August 6, 1997 in a gala evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Characteristically, on August 8, his actual birthday, Carter gave a concert in Oslo, Norway.
Musical Selection: "Flamingo" from Cosmopolite:
The Oscar Peterson Verve Sessions,1952-54, Verve 314-521-673
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The Carters, Benny, Hilma and Jimmy, at the
White House, July 1978. (Photo by Milt Hinton) 
Carter receives first place Down Beat Plaque
in 1956 for best Alto player. 
Carter receives honorary doctorate,
Rutgers, 1991, with daughter Joyce and wife Hilma. (Photo by Ed Berger)
Benny and Hilma, ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame Ceremony,
NYC, 1997. (Photo by Ed Berger) 
Down Beat plaque: Composer of the Year, 1996.
Benny with the Reagans at the White House.
Benny and opera singer Marilyn Horne received
honorary degrees from New England Conservatory of Music, 1998. (Photo
by Ed Berger) 
Carter was recognized with a Kennedy Center
Honors Award, December 1996. (Photo by Hilma Carter) 
The Carters and the Bushes at the White House.
Honorary degree, Princeton, 1974. (Photo by
Marie Bellis) 
The Carters and the Clintons at the White House.
Benny receives a letter from President Clinton.
