CARMEN McRAE - Carmen McRae Sings Great American Songwriters (1993) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Instead of reissuing all of singer Carmen McRae's early records for Decca in chronological order, the GRP program has hedged its bets a bit by coming up with highlights from each of her sessions although, with the various CDs on a whole, nearly everything has being reissued anyway. The 20 numbers on this CD are taken from ten different sessions and find McRae joined by the Mat Mathews Quintet (featuring flutist Herbie Mann), the Ray Bryant Trio, and several large orchestras. The repertoire is taken from the songbooks of some of the classic American composers (including Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Rodgers & Hart and Arlen); McRae's interpretations are both respectful and swinging. It is particularly interesting to hear how high her voice could go in the early days. This CD is easily recommended to her fans. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
 1     You Took Advantage of Me 2'36
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
2     Yesterdays 2'34
Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern
3     Last Night When We Were Young 2'36
Harold Arlen / E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
4     I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket 2'21
Irving Berlin
5     Blue Moon 2'33
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
6     I Was Doing All Right 2'47
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
7     My Foolish Heart 3'10
Ned Washington / Victor Young
8     My Funny Valentine 4'20
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
9     Nice Work If You Can Get It 2'28
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
10     Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 2'25
Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler
11     All the Things You Are 2'23
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
12     I Get a Kick Out of You 2'12
Cole Porter
13     My Man's Gone Now 4'13
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
14     Summertime 2'55
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
15     He Was Too Good to Me 2'40
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
16     How Long Has This Been Going On? 4'04
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
17     When I Fall in Love 3'46
Edward Heyman / Victor Young
18     My Romance 3'51
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
19     I Concentrate on You 3'30
Cole Porter
20     Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye 3'02
Cole Porter