Carmen McRae & Ray Bryant – The Complete Recordings (After Glow/Mad About The Man)
Label: Gambit 2005
Sublime early work from Carmen McRae – a collection of recordings done with backing from pianist Ray Bryant in both small combo and large group settings! The first dozen tracks on the album have Carmen singing in a beautifully fragile mode – with only Ray’s piano and a bit of bass and drums to back her up – and it’s a real treat to her the McRae vocal approach in such an unfettered format, because even at this earlier age, Carmen had a sense of control, poise, and grace that shines through immediately. Next up are 14 more tunes that also feature Bryant’s piano, but over larger backings directed by Jack Pleis – in a way that’s more similar to some of McRae’s better known recordings from the time, but still quite great – done with a level of sophistication that clearly paved the way for Nancy Wilson and Marlena Shaw in years to come – on a batch of 12 mostly Noel Coward numbers, and 2 other tunes. 26 tracks in all – and titles include “I Can’t Escape From You”, “Guess Who I Saw Today”, “Exactly Like You”, “All My Life”, “Dream Of Life”, “Zigeuner”, “A Room With A View”, “Never Again”, “Invitation”, “If Love Were All”, “Why Does Love Get In The Way”, and “Mad About The Boy”. © 1996-2015, Dusty Groove, Inc.
https://www.dustygroove.com/item/745406
Track list
01. I Can’t Escape From You Leo Robin / Richard A. Whiting 3:32
02. Guess Who I Saw Today Elisse Boyd / Murray Grand 3:38
03. My Funny Valentine Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers 4:23
04. Little Things That Mean So Much Harold Adamson 3:16
05. I’m Thru With Love Fud Livingston / Matty Malneck 4:12
06. Nice Work If You Can Get It George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin 2:32
07. East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon) Brooks Bowman 2:17
08. Exactly Like You Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh 2:12
09. All My Life Sidney Mitchell / Sam H. Stept 4:17
10. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler 2:29
11. Dream Of Life Luther Henderson / Carmen McRae 4:02
12. Perdido Ervin Drake / H.J. Lengsfelder / Juan Tizol 2:24
13. I’ll See You Again Noel Coward 2:42
14. Zigeuner Noel Coward 2:39
15. Some Day I’ll Find You Noel Coward 2:54
16. A Room With A View Noel Coward 2:42
17. World Weary Noel Coward 2:54
18. I Can’t Do Anything At All Noel Coward 2:57
19. Mad About The Boy Noel Coward 4:14
20. Poor Little Rich Girl Noel Coward 3:01
21. I’ll Follow My Secret Heart Noel Coward 2:42
22. If Love Were All Noel Coward 2:47
23. Why Does Love Get In The Way? Noel Coward 2:33
24. Never Again Noel Coward 2:48
25. Invitation Bronislaw Kaper / Paul Francis Webster 2:55
26. Moonray Artie Quenzer / Artie Shaw 2:28
Total time: 79:47
Rec. March 6, 1957 – April 5, 1958
Personnel: Carmen McRae (vocals); Danny Perri, George Barnes, Al Casamenti, Barry Galbraith (guitar); Herbert Bourne, Mac Ceppos, Raoul Poliakin (violin); George Berg (flute); Mel Tax, Seldon Powell (tenor saxophone); Charlie Shavers (trumpet); Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Chauncey Welsch (trombone); Tom Mitchell Jr. (bass trombone); Ray Bryant (piano); Specs Wright (drums).
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6879269&style=music&fulldesc=T
More info inside archive! with thanks to Lex.
