Carmen McRae Live

Rating:
Summary: I didn't know Carmen was blue
Review: I don't mean "blue" as in sad. I mean that, if this video is to be believed, she has blue skin. Well, sometimes blue, sometimes other weird colors, some never found in nature. That is to say, the fidelity of this video leaves much to be desired. Very, very bad.

Similarly, the sound quality of the recording itself. This is simple stereo--no remastering for Dolby--and nothing especially great as stereo recording goes.

So far as the performance goes, that she flubs the first line of the first song--a song she's surely sung a thousand times--speaks of things to come. This is not an inspired, or even highly engaged, performance. She is in good voice, but she seems distant a fair amount of the time, and often rather wooden. At times, she seems to be phoning it in. Rarely does her true charisma show through.

I found this DVD a great disappointment. I dearly love Carmen McRae--I have more than a dozen of her albums, and one of the most memorable nights of my life included seeing her live at the Blue Note nearly twenty years ago. But this DVD portrays her badly.

I wish I hadn't wasted my money on this. I can't imagine bothering to watch it again.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't know Carmen was blue
Review: I don't mean "blue" as in sad. I mean that, if this video is to be believed, she has blue skin. Well, sometimes blue, sometimes other weird colors, some never found in nature. That is to say, the fidelity of this video leaves much to be desired. Very, very bad.

Similarly, the sound quality of the recording itself. This is simple stereo--no remastering for Dolby--and nothing especially great as stereo recording goes.

So far as the performance goes, that she flubs the first line of the first song--a song she's surely sung a thousand times--speaks of things to come. This is not an inspired, or even highly engaged, performance. She is in good voice, but she seems distant a fair amount of the time, and often rather wooden. At times, she seems to be phoning it in. Rarely does her true charisma show through.

I found this DVD a great disappointment. I dearly love Carmen McRae--I have more than a dozen of her albums, and one of the most memorable nights of my life included seeing her live at the Blue Note nearly twenty years ago. But this DVD portrays her badly.

I wish I hadn't wasted my money on this. I can't imagine bothering to watch it again.

Rating:
Summary: A Tour on Master Command in Voice Performance
Review: This is a nearly 2-hour show in Japan. Carmen McRae is backed by a young and highly professional trio and she sings a great sequence of GAS and Bossa Nova. It's a post-graduation class in singing. High emotion for hearing and for watching a great singer in live action. Recommended to all those who love master singers.

Rating:
Summary: Carmen McRae Live
Review: Truly the finest performance of a legendary stupendous Jazz singer.If you like Jazz this is a must have.