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Carmen McRae Live |
List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $22.49 |
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Features:
Description:
Vocalist Carmen McRae was almost 64 when she performed this August 1986 concert in Japan. And while 64 may be past the prime of, say, a baseball player or an astronaut (John Glenn might beg to differ), the 80-minute concert offers effortless evidence that McRae was at the absolute top of her game. The setting isn't what you'd call intimate; most jazz musicians would prefer a smoky nightclub to the relatively antiseptic and formal atmosphere of Tokyo's Kan-I Hoken Hall. No problem for McRae, who leads her trio (Pat Coil, piano; Bob Bowman, bass; Mark Pulice, drums) through a selection of some 19 tunes, mostly standards like "That Old Black Magic," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Dindi"; she also accompanies herself on piano on "That Old Devil Called Love" and "As Long as I Live." All of it is classic Carmen. She uses her voice like a horn, improvising almost all the way, hinting at and toying with the melody, growling and soaring, totally at ease with not knowing exactly what's coming next. No pyrotechnics here--just a mature jazz artist who could swing like crazy on the uptempo material, caress every nuance from the ballads ("My Old Flame" is especially lovely), and bring both complete respect and a sense of humor to every note she sang. Composer credits would be nice, as would some more bonus DVD features (which include only a selectable song menu and a partial discography), but it's the music that matters, and Carmen McRae doesn't come any better than this. --Sam Graham
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