Carmen McRae (Mono Remastered 2014) Carmen McRae

• 1 Easy to Love (Remastered 2014) 02:24
• 2 If I'm Lucky (Remastered 2014) 03:14
• 3 Old Devil Moon (Remastered 2014) 02:36
• 4 Tip Toe Gently (Remastered 2014) 02:38
• 5 You Made Me Care (Remastered 2014) 02:09
• 6 The Last Time for Love (Remastered 2014) 03:04
• 7 Misery (Remastered 2014) 03:51
• 8 Too Much in Love to Care (Remastered 2014) 02:17
• Total Runtime 22:13

Info for Carmen McRae (Mono Remastered 2014)

Carmen McRae is a 1955 album by Jazz singer Carmen McRae. It was McRae's second album and was released on the Bethlehem label exclusively as 10" monoaural LP. The album was reissued on LP in 1976 as The Finest of Carmen McRae: You'd Be So Easy to Love, with an additional track, "Too Much in Love to Care".

"This is Carmen McRae's first recording as a leader. She's heard on four songs apiece with the Mat Mathews Quintet (a group including Herbie Mann on flute and tenor, and guitarist Mundell Lowe) and clarinetist Tony Scott's Quartet. On the emotional "Misery," Scott switches to piano and is the only accompanist to the singer. Five alternate takes augment this set, which emphasizes ballads. Overall the music is pleasing but not too memorable and one wishes there were more variety." (Scott Yanow, AMG)

Carmen McRae, vocals
Herbie Mann, flute, tenor saxophone (tracks 1–4)
Mat Mathews, accordion (tracks 1–4)
Mundell Lowe, guitar (tracks 1–4)
Wendell Marshall, double bass (tracks 1–4)
Kenny Clarke, drums (tracks 1–4)
Tony Scott, clarinet, piano (on "Misery") (tracks 5–8)
Dick Katz, piano (tracks 5–8)
Skip Fawcett, double bass (tracks 5–8)
Osie Johnson, drums (tracks 5–8)

Digitally remastered

Carmen McRae
Tender and warm with a ballad, Carmen McRae was one of the great singers of jazz, finding the depth of feeling in the lyrics of the songs she interpreted. An accomplished pianist who in her early career accompanied herself, she occasionally returned to the piano later in her career.

McRae learned piano through private lessons and was discovered by Irene Wilson Kitchings, a musician and former wife of pianist Teddy Wilson. McRae sang with the Benny Carter, Count Basie, and Mercer Ellington big bands during the 1940s and made her recorded debut as Carmen Clarke while the wife of drummer Kenny Clarke. During the bebop revolution at Minton's Playhouse, McRae was an intermission pianist. At the Playhouse is likely where she first heard Thelonious Monk's music, which influenced her piano playing and musical sense. In the early 1950s, she worked with the Mat Mathews Quintet. She signed her first significant recording contract with Decca in 1954.

Working as a soloist, she gained wide recognition and was often seen in the pantheon of jazz singers that included Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, whom she idolized and later paid homage on a recording. Her greatest idol was Billie Holiday, whom she feted on record and in performances on many occasions. Although she admired these singers, she never resorted to sheer mimicry and developed her own original style.

She recorded notably alongside Louis Armstrong on Dave Brubeck's extended work The Real Ambassadors, a social commentary written with his wife Iola. She made several film and television appearances, and performed as an actress in the landmark television series Roots. In the late 1980s, she returned to her first love, recording a full album of Monk's music with lyrics by Jon Hendricks, Abbey Lincoln, Mike Ferro, Sally Swisher, and Bernie Hanighen. The album became one of her signature recordings.

McRae performed many times at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where she shared the stage with Dizzy Gillespie and Phil Woods. She was forced to retire for health reasons in 1991.

This album contains no booklet.