Carmen McRae was one of the finest and most highly-regarded jazz and sophisticated pop singers of the post-war era.

Renowned for her highly individual interpretation of the standards of the Great American Songbook, McRae was born in Harlem of Jamaican parentage in 1920 and performed in New York’s jazz clubs in the 1940s.

Although her work was often overshadowed by the popular successes of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, there was, said Dave Brubeck, “no one like her.” Benny Carter, the pioneer big-band leader who met McRae at a Harlem nightclub when she was 18 and featured her as a singer six years later in 1944, was asked to assess her unique voice: “I wouldn’t try,” he said. “That’s like asking me to define jazz... She always had her own individual way with a song.”

This 97-track collection includes her first release on Musicraft with Mercer Ellington, plus A- and B-sides of her singles on the Stardust and Decca labels through to 1958.

Included are titles from her A Foggy Day album for Stardust, plus tracks from her albums Carmen McRae on Bethlehem, and Torchy, By Special Request, Blue Moon and Afterglow on Decca. This release also features her chart entries Next Time It Happens and Skyliner, from this era.

On these recordings, she is accompanied by orchestras arranged and conducted by Jack Pleis, Tadd Dameron, Vic Shoen and Ralph Burns, and star-studded jazz groups led by Mat Mathews and Tony Scott. It’s a substantial and thoroughly absorbing overview of the first key decade and more of her career when she established herself as a highly distinctive and supremely talented vocal stylist across the jazz and pop spectrum. Before she passed in 1994, McRae said: “All I want to be remembered for is my music...”

REVIEWS

Another indispensable collection - Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 354)

Carmen McRae was one of the fines and most highly regarded jazz and sophisticated pop singers of the post-war era. This 97-track collection is a substantial dn thoroughly absorbing overview of the first key decade and more of her career when she established herself as a highly distinctive and supremely talented vocal stylist across the jazz and pop spectrum. - Pete Lay (Just Jazz Issue 281)

This superb 4CD set from Acrobat Music chronicles the first decade of Carmen McRae's recording career, packing in an astonishing 97 tracks.  **** Recommended - Peter Quinn (Jazzwise Issue 266)

Epic 4CD set. Thre is gold to be found among the glitter and great performances too. If the list of great female jazz vocalists was ever to be extended from the present three (Ella, Billie and Sarah) I would unhesitatingly add Carmen as number four. - John Martin (The Jazz Rag Issue 167)

TRACKS