Latest Release
- APR 12, 2024
- 71 Songs
- Book of Ballads · 1959
- Vocal Encounters · 1960
- Birds of a Feather · 1958
- Blue Moon · 1956
- When You're Away · 1959
- Dance Class Essentials - Swing and Big Band Jazz · 1978
- Black Legends of Jazz · 1992
- Carmen McRae's Finest Hour · 1995
- Boy Meets Girl: On Decca · 1957
- Carmen Sings Monk · 1988
Essential Albums
Singles & EPs
- 1988
About Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae always had an intriguing, smoky voice but it was her lithe, behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretations of lyrics that made her most memorable. She had her first important job singing with Benny Carter's big band (1944), but it would be another decade before she recorded as a leader, and by then she had absorbed the influences of Billie Holiday and bebop into her own style. Championed in the '50s by Ralph Gleason, Carmen McRae was eventually the recipient of seven Grammy nominations between 1971 and 1990. She retired in 1991.
- HOMETOWN
- Harlem, NY, United States
- BORN
- April 8, 1920
- GENRE
- Jazz