Customer Reviews

Here to Stay

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

 

 

Carmen McRae has always been my most favorite female jazz vocalist. To my mind, no one expresses the true essence of a song better, no singer ever had such a deft touch, and the ability to communicate this to the listener. Carmen always sang with class and grace, but also with passion and grit, and this is evident throughout this recording of jazz classics. There are 20 tunes on the CD, the first 10 are with a small group, the other 10 with a big band, recorded in the mid to late 50's.
Her voice sounds youthful but mature on these tracks.
This CD is a delight to listen to, and I have listened to it often over the years.

As a jazz collector there are many albums of Carmen McRae that I consider essential and this is one. There's nothing of complaint in this recording, it's completely excellent. (Carmen McRae is of course one of the greats, for those uninformed.) The American songbook is large and Carmen sang a large part of it. It's advisable to choose albums with a minimum of overlap. I don't think this album can be overlooked if one wants these particular tracks. It certainly is a five star album.

This CD, issued by MCA 20 years ago, comprises most of the original LPs By Special Request (the missing tracks are 'Give me the simple life' and 'You took advantage of me')and Something To Swing About (without the tracks 'I couldn't care less' and 'Alone together'). Why they were not included is anybody's guess. However, this type of reissue was all too common back in those days. At a playing time of under 54 minutes, space was certainly not a problem.
The complete Something To Swing About has recently been reissued by Fresh Sound Records in Spain as part of the 2CD set 'The Complete Kapp Recordings'. The other McRae LPs in this set are Book of Ballads and When You're Away. Fresh Sounds have other Carmen McRae CDs in their catalogue.