[.ca] Great American Songbook

From Amazon.com:
Perhaps the title is a bit off the mark: This set, recorded at Donte's in Los Angeles in 1972, isn't some sort of comprehensive catalog of the greatest American songs. After all, it's possible to find more enduring standards than "Close to You" (Bacharach/David) or "A Song for You" (Leon Russell) or "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life" (Legrand/Bergman/Bergman). And while Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and Johnny Mercer are represented (by "Satin Doll," "At Long Last Love," and "I Thought About You," respectively), there's no Gershwin or Berlin or Kern. But that's not really the point, is it? The great McCrae make's 'em all sound like classic American songs in a recording that's as close as you'll ever get to seeing her in the intimacy of a small club. The laughter, sighs, and applause of the audience, tinkling cocktail glasses and spoken intros (most of which have been cut for the CD release) put you right there with McCrae and the four-piece band, including Joe Pass on guitar and Jimmy Rowles on piano. Maybe it should just have been called , Great American Singing. --Jim Emerson

disappointed:
I bought this CD because it has "What are you doing the rest of your life" on it. She sang it beautifully sad. But the other songs were not quite live up to the expectations.

Wow:
I'm lucky to have a great jazz station in my area (KCSM 91.9), and when they played a few of the tracks from the "At Ratso's" CD, I was intrigued. I found this CD at the local library, strangely enough. Carmen McRae is an excellent vocalist, and she shines in this live, intimate setting, backed by a great rhythym section. She can really put inflection and attitude, not to mention emotion, into her voice. The title of this album is rather misleading, and something like "Live at Donte's" would be more appropriate. I'm a bit disappointed that they had to cut the spoken introductions, and I'll keep a lookout for those LPs (even though I have no record player...heh). Live jazz is like nothing else, pick up this CD.

Thank You, Carmen!:
It is a simple and disappointing fact that Carmen McRae spent much of her career in the collective shadow of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. However, unlike many vocalists who would (and did) throw in the towel, she carved out and developed a style all her own; while leaving us some wonderful music in the process. This collection is a perfect example of that. She took these songs and interpreted them in ways that Ms. Vaughan and Ms. Fitzgerald couldn't touch. This collection proves that over most of her career she successfully resisted the temptation to try and sound more like Sarah or Ella. For that, we should be very thankful!

Search for the vinyl lp version:
Listening to this live outing on CD, with most of Carmen's spoken introductions cut out, is a frustrating experience. I had bought the CD a while back, but couldn't really get into it. Then I ran across the old vinyl double album in a used-record store, so I bought it to find out what I had been missing. And let me tell you, Carmen's witty and brash banter makes all the difference in establishing this album as a true listening experience. She cuts up for two and a half minutes alone before launching into "The Ballad of Thelonious Monk." Hearing Carmen speak to the audience does a lot to establish a sense of the room in which she was performing, the jovial mood she was in, and the spirit of that night in Donte's. And you know what, the sound even seems a bit richer on the old vinyl.

Five stars, especially if you're a Carmen fan.:
This live club date (if you're looking for the best of Cole Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, ignore the silly, inappropriate title) is good, representative Carmen from the 1970s. But she's beginning to reveal some of the uneven timbre, thin spots in her vocal range, over reliance on exaggerated diction that became evident in the latter part of her career. As good as this album is, a better example of Carmen working out with a rhythm section (and there are many such recordings) is "Live at Sugar Hill." (Look hard. She's in better voice on "Sunday," and sings the all-time definitive version of Rodgers and Hart's "It Never Entered My Mind." It's also been reissued as "In Person.") After Billie Holiday's passing, the two supreme divas in jazz were Ella and Sarah. And if the list were expanded to include a third, it would arguably be Carmen. But unless you've heard her work from the 1950s and 60s, the high regard in which she is held by many listeners may not be immediately apparent based on the evidence of this and other later recordings. She could practically "carry" a rhythm section, or create powerful drama out of mundane material, first arousing us with abrasive indignation, then assuring us with the sheer sweetness of her soothing instrument. The strengths of this 1972 session, on the other hand, are to be found not simply in her commanding vocalizations but in her interaction with the other players. Her presence is liberating, allowing her musicians (including Joe Pass) to be not merely accompanists but fellow creators whose contributions take on the same importance as hers. No one feels and communicates "time" like Carmen. A pianist herself, she has a little drummer at work in her brain controlling every phrase and note that issues from her lips. Listen to her relaxed phrasing and confident counter-melody while the rhythm section is burning on "I Cried for You." Then compare that with Louis Armstrong's trumpet in the late 20s and early 30s, especially on a classic like "Mahogany Hall Stomp." In the same way that Armstrong towered over all of his peers, Carmen commands the field among female jazz singers. It's not sufficient to listen to cuts like "Day by Day" or "I Only Have Eyes for You" and compliment her on selecting such superb, swinging musicians to back her up. It's because of HER that they're swinging that hard!

• Satin Doll
• At Long Last Love
• If the Moon Turns Green
• Day by Day
• What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
• I Only Have Eyes for You
• Medley: Easy Living/The Days of Wine and Roses/It's Impossible
• Sunday
• Song for You
• I Cried for You
• Behind the Face
• Ballad of Thelonious Monk
• There's No Such Thing as Love
• (They Long to Be) Close to You
• Three Little Words
• Mr. Ugly
• It's Like Reaching for the Moon
• I Thought About You