Customer Reviews

At Ratso's Vol.1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a die hard Carmen McRae fan. I truly think that this is one of her best CD's besides the Monk CD that she did. I think that all of her songs on this CD is great. She is definitely an artist that should be ranked up there with all of the other greats like Ella, Sarah, and Billie. However, with the exception of Sarah, It seems that McRae got better with age. Every song shows how rich and controlled her voice remains throughout the CD. IF one person has not been introduced to McRae then this is it. Her rendition of You and I and Hey John is immaculate. What a voice.

Carmen is one of the world's Best Jazz Singers!!!!! I am talking Real Jazz!!!!
If you love all of the Great Ladies of Jazz, You will Love Carmen!!
For me, I love all her Vocals more as she ages. Her voice is deeper, and her
emhasiis on words is her trade mark. You Feel Her Joy, Pain, Hope in every song she has chosen to perform. Two close friends of mine are Ed Bennet her Bass man on this CD and Jelsa Palao, singer song writer that wrote "I am Music" ( Before Barry did his version). This song is Amazing! Any and all Musicians will relate to it. I was lucky to have met Carmen many years before she died. Not only was she an incredible vocalist, she was a kind and caring woman. Jelsa has a CD out now called " For The Love Of Carmen".So, if you Love Carmen as I do, buy all her CD'S she is gone and will never create more or Pick up Jelsa's CD. You will Love it too.

This critically-acclaimed reissue finds Carmen in top form. She has the breath support to sustain tones and "sweeten" them, usually by attacking a syllable with incisive edginess, then finishing the sound with a pleasant, floating vibrato. And the dynamic contrasts that are so essential to her dramatic story-telling approach are in full force, allowing the accompanying trio to provide lots of lightning and thunder behind each of her "big" endings. Moreover, we sense the involvement of the audience (Woody Herman was present, and Carmen alludes to the earlier appearance of Teddy Wilson), despite the very relaxed persona projected by the artist on stage.

The problems with this recording are less Carmen's than the culture of the 1970's, a decade notorious for providing very little of substance for artists seeking to "connect" with contemporary tastes. Much if not most of the material belongs to the category of "period piece," and the instrumental back-up--reduced to playing lots of anemic triads and supplying obvious programmatic effects--reflects the skimpy opportunities present in the music. Unfortunately, the Ellington pieces represent the exception rather than the quality of the program as a whole.

The wonder is that Carmen makes music and drama out of this ephemera at all. But this album is unlikely to command repeated listenings--unless your attraction is less to Carmen the supreme jazz artist and more to Carmen the cabaret queen. I have yet to check out Vol. 2, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a more satisfying representation of Carmen's unique talent.