Constant work in D.C. and New York led to a job with RB barnstormer Earl Bostic (1949) and later Dinah Washington. He joined the employ of Washington, D.C., guitarist Charlie Byrd in 1957, staying with him through the bossa nova craze, which found him playing on dates alongside Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim. As a member of the Tommy Flanagan Trio, Betts backed Ella Fitzgerald beginning in 1965. In 1971, he joined her band full-time for an unprecedented 24-year stretch. Flanagan and Betts, alongside various drummers (including Bobby Durham, Ed Thigpen, and Gus Johnson), formed an infallible rhythm section: flexible, swinging, playful, warm, and refined -- all the qualities Fitzgerald herself personified. Betts played with Fitzgerald until her final performance in 1993. Sidework over the years has also included recordings with Hamiet Bluiett, Sam Jones, Cannonball Adderley, Joe Pass, Clifford Brown, Kenny Burrell, Louis Bellson, and Joe Williams.
It wasn't until 1998 that Betts ever recorded under his own leadership. The self-released Bass, Buddies Blues (1998) was followed a year later by Bass, Buddies, Blues Beauty Too, featuring Baltimore vocalist Ethel Ennis. Live at the East Coast Jazz Festival (2000) featured Etta Jones. In his later years, Betts maintained an impressive schedule, performing and lecturing at schools and youth music workshops in the Washington, D.C., area. He also served as musical coordinator for jazz programming at Black Entertainment Television and as an instructor/lecturer at Howard University. Betts passed away at age 77 in his home in Silver Spring, MD, in 2005. ~ John Duffy, Rovi