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Carmen McRae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carmen McRae | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Carmen Mercedes McRae | |
| Also known as | "The Singer's Singer" | |
| Born | April 8, 1920 | |
| Origin | Harlem, New York City, United States | |
| Died | November 10, 1994 (aged 74) | |
| Genre(s) | Vocal jazz | |
| Years active | 1944–1993 | |
| Label(s) | Decca, Verve, Atlantic, Novus | |
Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920–November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th Century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics, that made her memorable.[1]
Contents |
McRae was born in Harlem, New York City on April 8, 1920, to West Indian parents. She began studying piano as a child. As a teenager she came to the attention of Teddy Wilson and his wife, the composer Irene Kitchings Wilson. Through their influence, one of McRae’s early songs, "Dream of Life", was recorded by Wilson’s longtime collaborator Billie Holiday.
By the late 1940s she was well known among the modern jazz musicians who gathered at Minton's Playhouse, Harlem's most famous jazz club, where she was the intermission pianist. But it was while working in Brooklyn that she came to the attention of Decca’s Milt Gabler. Her five year association with Decca yielded 12 LPs.
Her live 1987 duets with Betty Carter are highly regarded (see The Carmen McRae-Betty Carter Duets).
The musicians she sang with include Benny Carter, Mercer Ellington, Count Basie, Sammy Davis Jr., Dave Brubeck, and Louis Armstrong. As a result of her early friendship with Billie Holiday, she never performed without singing at least one song associated with Lady Day.
She was married to drummer Kenny Clarke and the double bassist Ike Isaacs.
- Carmen McRae (1954)
- Blue Moon (1956)
- Mad About The Man (1957)
- Birds of a Feather (1958)
- Boy Meets Girl: Sammy Davis Jr. & Carmen McRae (1958)
- When You're Away (1960)
- Book of Ballads (1961)
- Take Five (1961)
- Sings Lover Man and other Billie Holiday Classics (1962)
- The Great American Songbook (1972)
- Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport (Reissued with tracks featuring McRae in 2001)
- The Carmen McRae-Betty Carter Duets (1987)
- Carmen Sings Monk (1988)
- Sarah: Dedicated to You (1990)
| Songwriters |
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| Singers |
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