Betty Glamann

Who is Betty Glamann?

Betty Glamann Voorhees was an American jazz harpist. She was born in Wellington, Kansas.

Glamann learned to play harp at the age of ten. She attended a conservatory and was the harpist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three years. She played with Spike Jones in 1948, founded the Smith-Glamann Quintet in 1955, played with Duke Ellington and Marian McPartland around 1955 and then with Oscar Pettiford during 1957-58. With Kenny Dorham's band she recorded the album Jazz Contrasts in 1957. In 1958 she was involved in a Michel Legrand recording session with John Coltrane and Miles Davis; she played with Eddie Costa in 1958 and with the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1960. She recorded one album under her own name, Swinging on a Harp.