CARMEN McRAE - The Diva Series (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 If you are making a shortlist of the best jazz singers, Carmen McRae had better be right at the top. She had a distinctive voice, able to do heartbreaking and lighthearted equally as thrillingly. She had an unerring sense of melody and her phrasing is a thing of beauty. This collection covers her work in the mid-'50s for Decca both with small groups and larger orchestras. She shines on swinging tracks like "Comes Love," "Falling in Love With Love," and "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" and won't leave a dry eye in the house with her deeply emotional ballad singing. "Do You Know Why," "Midnight Sun," and the achingly beautiful "I'm Glad There Is You" are prime examples of McRae's way with a ballad. Each of the 16 tracks here is like a primer on how to be a vocalist, jazz or otherwise. McRae's entry in Verve's Diva Series is a fine introduction to her 1950s recordings. Tim Sendra
Tracklist :
1     Falling in Love With Love 2:13
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
2     I Only Have Eyes for You 3:49
Al Dubin / Harry Warren
3     Speak Low 3:10
Ogden Nash / Kurt Weill
4     Midnight Sun 4:15
Francis Burke / Sonny Burke / Lionel Hampton / Johnny Mercer
5     I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket 2:24
Irving Berlin
6     How Little We Know 2:30
Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer / Philip Springer
7     Skylark 3:03
Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer
8     My Man's Gone Now 4:16
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
9     Comes Love 2:45
Lew Brown / Sam H. Stept / Charles Tobias
10     All the Things You Are 2:25
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
11     Ain't Misbehavin' 3:18
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
12     Do You Know Why? 2:53
Johnny Burke / James Van Heusen
13     Bye Bye Blackbird 3:27
Mort Dixon / Ray Henderson
14     Any Old Time 3:09
Artie Shaw
15     That Old Devil Moon 3:45
E.Y. "Yip" Harburg / Burton Lane
16     I'm Glad There Is You 3:53
Jimmy Dorsey / Paul Madeira