Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae – Carmen for Cool Ones (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:31 minutes | 359 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Carmen for Cool Ones is a 1958 album by jazz singer Carmen McRae, arranged and directed by cellist Fred Katz.

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Carmen McRae – Blue Moon (1956/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 35:31 minutes | 395 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © J. Joes J. Edizioni Musicali

Blue Moon is an album by jazz singer Carmen McRae, released on Decca Records in 1956.

Allmusic critic Scott Yanow gave the album four out of five stars, stating:

Much of the music on this excellent (but obscure) Carmen McRae LP has not been reissued, and certainly not in complete form. Accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by either Tadd Dameron or Jimmy Mundy, McRae performs both standards and obscurities, ballads and medium-tempo tunes. The big band is pretty anonymous but fine in ensemble work; the main focus is on the singer’s voice anyway. Highlights include “Blue Moon”, “My Foolish Heart”, “I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket” and Mundell Lowe’s “All This Could Lead to Love”.

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Carmen McRae – Torchy! (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 37:04 minutes | 577 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Torchy! is a 1956 album by jazz singer Carmen McRae arranged by Jack Pleis and Ralph Burns. Jason Ankeny described the album as “a lush, potently atmospheric collection of romantic ballads rendered for maximum impact” and that the “…sheer intensity of McRae’s vocals render orchestration virtually moot.

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Carmen McRae – The Complete Ralph Burns Sessions Featuring Ben Webster (1958/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:31 minutes | 1,31 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

This edition combines several outstanding sessions by Carmen McRae – dating between December 1955 and August 1958 – under the musical direction of the brilliant arranger and conductor Ralph Burns. Armed with an orchestra boasting a 10-piece string section, Burns’ subtle and evocative charts provide a strong yet delicate support that gracefully enhances the vocalist’s talents without ever overpowering her. The addition of guest soloist tenor saxophonist Ben Webster – who for contractual reasons recorded here under the pseudonym “A Tenorman” – brought another dimension to the magical quality of these recordings. His breathy and expressive sound proves the perfect counterpoint to McRae’s versatile and passionate vocal style.

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Carmen McRae – That Priceless Carmen! (1998/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 52:52 minutes | 724 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Like many of you reading this, i often find too many best of albums on the market.They actually keeps the industry running.There are fortunally exceptions like this excellent summary of CARMEN McRAE’s first five years with DECCA 1955-1959.Everything here is of interest due to the superior quality of the songs:MY FUNNY VALENTINE,EVERYTIME WE SAY GOODBYE,YESTERDAYS etc, but also because of CARMEN’s good readings of these songs.MY MAN’S GONE NOW let her try to match her idol SARAH VAUGHAN who made this song so much her own.If you don’t know it,CARMEN McRAE is a fine singer who had when these records were made already many years of touring experience.

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Carmen McRae – I Am Music (1975/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 43:40 minutes | 1,57 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records

Digitally remastered edition of this 1975 album from the Jazz legend. Carmen McRae was born in Harlem in 1920 and is considered to be one of the most influential Jazz vocalists of the 20th century. Throughout her career she recorded over 60 albums and was nominated for seven Grammy’s. I Am Music was Carmen’s first release for the legendary jazz label Blue Note in 1975 and shows off her extraordinary vocal talents in a Funky Jazz setting. The album was responsible for a significant career revival for Carmen and the beginning of a fruitful relationship with Blue Note. The album teamed Carmen with contemporary Jazz songwriters such as Bernard Ighner and Alan & Marilyn Bergman

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Carmen McRae – Carmen McRae (1954/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 22:15 minutes | 334 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Bethlehem Records

Carmen McRae’s debut was recorded in 1954, the same year she was awarded the title Best New Female Vocalist by DownBeat magazine. Accompanied by an all-star line up of musicians including Herbie Mann on flute and tenor saxophone, Wendell Marshall on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, this auspicious debut set up the rest of McRae’s successful career which would see her record more than 60 albums, garner multiple Grammy nominations and appear in films and on television.

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Carmen McRae – Book Of Ballads (Remastered) (1959/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 41:17 minutes | 427 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics. “Book of Ballads” is her 1959 album, arranged by Frank Hunter. Billboard chose the cover of Book of Ballads as their ‘Album Cover of the Week’ in their January 19, 1959 issue.

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Carmen McRae – At The Great American Music Hall (1977/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:20:54 minutes | 2,99 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records

Recorded over a three-night engagement at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in 1976, jazz vocalist Carmen McRae presents this eclectic selection of jazz standards and a handful of pop songs including a surprising cover of Alice Cooper’s ballad Only Women Bleed.

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Carmen McRae – As Time Goes By – Live At The Dug (1974/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:44 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Victor

It may have made Bogart and Bergman immortal, but the song “As Time Goes By” curiously never became one of the many jazz standards of the day. So, to find it here in the company of other perennial songs from the jazz catalog is quite a treat. And even more impressive is the fact Carmen McRae is the one at the microphone. Recorded in 1973 at Tokyo’s Dug jazz club, As Time Goes By finds McRae accompanying herself on piano. And if one wasn’t quite sure whether to put Miss McRae in the same company as a Sarah Vaughan or Dinah Washington, then this collection of numbers should definitely tip the scales. Here is one of jazz’s most underrated chanteuses spelling it all out. ~ Stephen Cook, All Music Guide Review

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Carmen McRae – A Foggy Day with Carmen Mcrae (1953/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 28:23 minutes | 503 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stardust Records

Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.
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