No one, nowhere, has ever done it better: diction, breath control, depth of feeling just as tho she is speaking just to you; and her voice quality is unique. Oh, I miss Miss Carmen so much! She was the best.
The only one who does a ballad slower than Carmen McRae is Betty Carter who doesn't "milk it " but IS the silky milk itself! Betty is jazz , Carmen is jazz entertainment but what a classy act!
If anyone ever wonders what it means to interpret the lyrics of a song and make that song your own,here it is: exhibit A. Lots of people can sing; far fewer can inhabit a song--in this case,a classic pop song--and make it sound not only brand new but as though it were created right there on the spot as it is being sung. That is the definition of vocal artistry. Thank you, NYCguys2007.. What a great gift you've given us all.
So true. Carmen was a master of interpretation and improvisation, always understated, never showy, constantly true to the music and lyrics. I miss her.
Wow, wow, wow. Control, phrasing, range. The lot. What a superb example of how to deliver a jazz classic. Bravo to the trio too. Never mentioned along with Ella, Sarah, etc., but she was right up there. And more.
Louis Alemayehu I'm reading this in 2018. Now she would have been almost 100. I feel like I know her even though she was dead way before I discovered her music
I am always astonished and in awe of the legendary Ella and Sara...they are perfection...but Carmen MOVES me...she marries her Jazz improvisation perfectly with a dramatic sensitivity to the lyric. I really understand the song when she sings it while enjoying the spin she puts on the music....gorgeous.
Luiz, Don't make me go back into the archives on you! I've got stories from way back in the 1960s -- maybe before you were born. LOL I once told a friend who thought my admiration so bizarre that of all the times in the world that I could have lived, I was so happy that I lived to see and hear this woman wrap her lips around a lyric and spit out sheer magic! Carmen didn't just sing, she sang in italics! And she sang with incomparable musical instincts. (To be cont'd)
When you have heard Carmen McRae, You have seen and heard Pure Genius!!! There is NoOne that can phrase like this lady! I had the privilege to see her live in Dallas, Tx and she sang this tune! She is also a wonderful musician. playing several instruments. You are loved Carmen!! Thank God There Was YOU!
I totally agree. Her phrasing surpasses everyone. As a guitarist, she has helped immensely in my playing but admittedly, I will never capture her feeling. She is sheer truth. Have caught her live and have been listening to her for over 50 years. I love Shirley Horn too.
I saw her in a little Jazz club in San Francisco in 1964, when I was too young to be in such a place. Her voice was like woven satin and velvet to me--
An angel , that knows the worst, the best that a woman can go through and is now the inspiration for the great singers today. Carmen, join the heavenly choirs and your voice is one of the tru - ist xxxxxxx-
thats right.. thats what we rarely see nowadays... many black jazz singers especially from before 80`s are so amazing they sing like when they talk so basically they`re like telling a the lyrics itself to us thats why it feels so pure,emotional,straight and so raw.. no autotunes just pure emotions that makes the song extraordinary and so emotional.. just looking from her singing i got goosebumps lol... amazing performance
Luiz, I am Carmen's number one fan. And, I was lucky enough to become a friend. I own everything she recorded that has been available in this country (as far as I know). She said that I did not have some stuff she recorded overseas. I know I had more of her stuff than she did because I was was in her home many times up in Beverly Hills before she died. I was one of the first people her maid phoned when she died. Her birthday was April 8th. She died on 10-Nov-94, my 58th b'day.
I’ve always admired her authority in a song, like she was teaching you something deeper than just the lyrics. The phrasing on this brings me to tears. Amazing.
Carmen sounded best as she matured. Usually, with most singers, it is the other way around. I am so blessed to have seen her perform live on two occasions in the late '80s. Truly awesome. The best vocalist I ever heard to date. so expressive, so damn good!
Carmen in great form doing one of her classics and there was nothing to compare to seeing Miss McRae in concert...this was a great period in this legends career having released the masterpiece "I'm Coming Home Again" around this time...Bravo Carmen and you are missed!!!
I was fortunate to see all three in concert for many years many, many times and do not like to compare them as they were each original classics having their own unique qualities...Carmen's voice was beautiful on recordings like Boy Do I Have A Surprise For You in a magical way...Sarah was stunning in every way in concert.
Quintessential Carmen! I had no idea TH-cam had this and other Carmen magic! And, I am the number one Carmen McRae fan! I often told her that I thought she possessed some sort of Voodoo. I first heard her in Newport in 1960 at a little club. She sat on a stool and sang and my life was never musically the same! I saw her whenever she came to NYC and even went as far away as New Hampshire to hear her. I also heard her in California, where she lived from mid-60s until she died..
do you hear that? do you feel it? undefinable..listening to Carmen McRae is soul jazz in the indigo hue...it takes a certain level to reach it...she is a legend..listen to her singing "Spring..."
Carmen always amazing in concert & had the thrill from mid-sixties to early nineties and this legendary lady always delivered...small clubs to The Hollywood Bowl, nobody like her...Bravo Carmen and you are missed!
People, like Carmen McRae who left our world, but still dazzling us with your music with maximum expression and sensitivity. We can only love them and perpetuate our emotions create an energy that brings peace, love cradle of the best feelings of humanity.
I am NOT saying this is the BEST version, BUT this is the best version I have ever heard in my sixtysome years. Exquisite!!!!!!!! Impeccable!!!!!!!! Heart centered and SOULFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think it is on an album she did with Cal Tjader in the early 80's called HEAT WAVE. Check out Amazon or iTunes. A lot of people say both of her parents were Jamaicans. One of her relatives said the real deal was that Carmen's mom was Jamaican and her dad was born in Costa Rica. If I am correct, her birthday comes this week on Tuesday, April 7th. Carmen McRae, a master musician and profound musical actress. She advanced the jazz vocal as a living, growing tradition.
@bradly2007 Gosh! Hey... what's up, we have to stop meeting like this LOL! Seriously though I remember being a little girl and my mother playing this over and over with the smell of oxtails permeating the apartment! Her voice resonated in my then little ears then as it does now!
This is simply an amazing performance of this deep song. I first hear this performed by Sarah Vaughn on an album she did with Clifford Brown and a group of all-stars that included Herbie Mann on flute and Paul Quinicette "Little Prez", on tenor. Carmen has a perfect balance of musicality and interpretation on this performance. Breath taking to say the least. I think it will be a while before there is another who has her gift. THIS is my favorite version of this song!
AGREE---SHE IS THE FEMALE EQUIVALENT OF FRANK SINATRA IN THE WAY SHE INTERPRETS THE LYRICS,TO MAKE THE SONG,HERS ONLY NO ONE WILL EVER TOP CARMEN----A TRUE GODDESS OF MUSIC.
Slhe's just the Best! I put her right up there with Ella, Billie and Sarah. I think I have every CD available. Wonderful late at night...kick back...and just go!
my first slow dance was to this song. i was 16. I love this song. That was the first and last boy I met that understood what real music was. Now everybody is doing the soulja boy.LOL
Carmen has a CD on Atlantic called The Great American Songbook. If you liked this, I am sure you will enjoy that recording from 1972. There is the usa release and the longer japanese release that has between song chat and humor from Ms McRae. Her voice is in good shape and her interpretive skills are at their HEIGHT! Need I say more?
I love her confidence. I see the debate between this version and the Sarah version; I love both for separate reasons and I'll leave it at that. I appreciate the delicacy and warmth of Sarah Vaughan's studio recording. (In her later years, she tended to be less warm but of course still equally fantastic, I think.) Here, I enjoy Carmen's dramatic lyrical reading--which has always been one of her strongsuits. They can both trade off singing to me!
Carmen McRae is one of the primo songstresses of the 20th century. You can't get better than her. Only Ella and Sarah are a bit notch above. I grew up listening to Carmen, I think she is an absolute gem and and an imperial representative of a jazz singer. There will be no one other than her.
@susuemikado You nailed your comment about Ms. McCrae. I find myself paying more attention to the lyric when she interprets a song. She gets inside of the lyric in such a way that takes the listener on a ride. With Sarah, (whom I love, and Ella whom I enjoy, I find myself just blown away by the sheer brilliance of their voice and musical technicality. Carmen deceptively delivers on a song but she's complex like Miles with a horn line. So much is delivered in a clean understated way.
Carmen's voice was equal to the other two in the sixties but smoking narrowed her range in later years...listen to The Orchestra Recordings and Carmen's voice kicks ass on these like no other...also her Atlantic recordings show a singer with a very impressive voice and technique and I rate her on these with Ella and Sarah!
Carmen owns this standard; perhaps rivaled only by Sarah Vaughan's recording. Despite this quality performance by Carmen and her band, the audio is somewhat lacking, but still a great document of her vocal artistry.
Has any one heard Carmen's performance of "I am Music"? It's available online as a free download somewhere in cyberland... Really good material and interpretation.
No one, nowhere, has ever done it better: diction, breath control, depth of feeling just as tho she is speaking just to you; and her voice quality is unique. Oh, I miss Miss Carmen so much!
She was the best.
So rare...
One thing about Carmen: she takes the ballads slower than most do. This gives her a chance to really milk the hell out of the lyrics. What an artist!
She was such a good friend and nice lady in person.
I think of her as a truly great "pure" jazz singer.
Here she got some lyrics wrong.
@@monicabella7894 But she milked the hell out of those wrong lyrics.
The only one who does a ballad slower than Carmen McRae is Betty Carter who doesn't "milk it " but IS the silky milk itself! Betty is jazz , Carmen is jazz entertainment but what a classy act!
If anyone ever wonders what it means to interpret the lyrics of a song and make that song your own,here it is: exhibit A. Lots of people can sing; far fewer can inhabit a song--in this case,a classic pop song--and make it sound not only brand new but as though it were created right there on the spot as it is being sung. That is the definition of vocal artistry. Thank you, NYCguys2007.. What a great gift you've given us all.
I don't think anyone can give a better explanation to anyone in the world, of the magic and allure of Carmen McRae, than you did, just now. That's it!
So true. Carmen was a master of interpretation and improvisation, always understated, never showy, constantly true to the music and lyrics. I miss her.
Preach!
Sang the song Carmen! Wow!🙏🏽💖🥰
When I was 15 years old, in 1966, my mother bought me Carmen McRae's "Alfie" album. She became one of my favorite singers of all time.
What an intro.. and ending wow says it all as intros and endings are for the artist oh Carmen your killing me
Wow, wow, wow. Control, phrasing, range. The lot. What a superb example of how to deliver a jazz classic. Bravo to the trio too. Never mentioned along with Ella, Sarah, etc., but she was right up there. And more.
Today would have been Carmen McRae's 90th birthday. So glad she came this way. Her Birthday is April 8th 1920
Louis Alemayehu I'm reading this in 2018. Now she would have been almost 100. I feel like I know her even though she was dead way before I discovered her music
Happy 100th birthday, Carmen.
Just the very best who ever did it...still.
I am always astonished and in awe of the legendary Ella and Sara...they are perfection...but Carmen MOVES me...she marries her Jazz improvisation perfectly with a dramatic sensitivity to the lyric. I really understand the song when she sings it while enjoying the spin she puts on the music....gorgeous.
Amen
who else could do so much? supreme Carmen McRae.
Luiz,
Don't make me go back into the archives on you! I've got stories from way back in the 1960s -- maybe before you were born. LOL
I once told a friend who thought my admiration so bizarre that of all the times in the world that I could have lived, I was so happy that I lived to see and hear this woman wrap her lips around a lyric and spit out sheer magic! Carmen didn't just sing, she sang in italics! And she sang with incomparable musical instincts.
(To be cont'd)
OMG!!!!, she is GREAT, I love this rendition.
When you have heard Carmen McRae, You have seen and heard Pure Genius!!! There is NoOne that can phrase like this lady! I had the privilege to see her live in Dallas, Tx and she sang this tune! She is also a wonderful musician. playing several instruments. You are loved Carmen!! Thank God There Was YOU!
I totally agree. Her phrasing surpasses everyone. As a guitarist, she has helped immensely in my playing but admittedly, I will never capture her feeling. She is sheer truth. Have caught her live and have been listening to her for over 50 years. I love Shirley Horn too.
She certainly was a genius.
her masterful phrasing, yes - and her shading ...
Thanks! If Carmen came back she would be thankful for all the love
I saw her in a little Jazz club in San Francisco in 1964, when I was too young to be in such a place. Her voice was like woven satin and velvet to me--
My favorite jazz singer EVER. Got to see her at the Blue Note in NYC years ago. Bucket list moment!
An angel , that knows the worst, the best that a woman can go through and is now the inspiration for the great singers today. Carmen, join the heavenly choirs and your voice is one of the tru - ist xxxxxxx-
yes, she is not only an extraordinary singer--she's also a song interpreter--she digs very deep. that's much rarer.
thats right.. thats what we rarely see nowadays... many black jazz singers especially from before 80`s are so amazing they sing like when they talk so basically they`re like telling a the lyrics itself to us thats why it feels so pure,emotional,straight and so raw.. no autotunes just pure emotions that makes the song extraordinary and so emotional.. just looking from her singing i got goosebumps lol... amazing performance
She must have had a very deep and pure heart to interpret with such feeling
Sho Nuff!
Absolutely love her. This song describes how I feel about my husband Gerry ! I cannot get enough of her beautiful voice. Go Miss Carmen !!!
Luiz,
I am Carmen's number one fan. And, I was lucky enough to become a friend. I own everything she recorded that has been available in this country (as far as I know). She said that I did not have some stuff she recorded overseas. I know I had more of her stuff than she did because I was was in her home many times up in Beverly Hills before she died. I was one of the first people her maid phoned when she died.
Her birthday was April 8th. She died on 10-Nov-94, my 58th b'day.
its like she takes the song to a whole another emotional/rhythmic/lyrical level----
One of a kind.
Carmen McRae was one of the very best of the Jazz vocalists!!
What a voice
Love it…!!
I’ve always admired her authority in a song, like she was teaching you something deeper than just the lyrics. The phrasing on this brings me to tears. Amazing.
Carmen sounded best as she matured. Usually, with most singers, it is the other way around. I am so blessed to have seen her perform live on two occasions in the late '80s. Truly awesome. The best vocalist I ever heard to date. so expressive, so damn good!
she has a beautiful, clear and poignant way of delivering a ballad. Her own style. No one can do it like her.
Very personal and unique interpretation with jazzy phrasing. Love it!
Carmen in great form doing one of her classics and there was nothing to compare to seeing Miss McRae in concert...this was a great period in this legends career having released the masterpiece "I'm Coming Home Again" around this time...Bravo Carmen and you are missed!!!
I was fortunate to see all three in concert for many years many, many times and do not like to compare them as they were each original classics having their own unique qualities...Carmen's voice was beautiful on recordings like Boy Do I Have A Surprise For You in a magical way...Sarah was stunning in every way in concert.
Quintessential Carmen! I had no idea TH-cam had this and other Carmen magic! And, I am the number one Carmen McRae fan! I often told her that I thought she possessed some sort of Voodoo. I first heard her in Newport in 1960 at a little club. She sat on a stool and sang and my life was never musically the same!
I saw her whenever she came to NYC and even went as far away as New Hampshire to hear her.
I also heard her in California, where she lived from mid-60s until she died..
I remembered meeting her in 1976, she gave a concert at my college of the Siskyou, it was the greatest joy ever
do you hear that? do you feel it? undefinable..listening to Carmen McRae is soul jazz in the indigo hue...it takes a certain level to reach it...she is a legend..listen to her singing "Spring..."
quaint, beautiful and classic carmen. she looks good here, too.
Thanks a million for the upload!
Oh Carmen Come back!!!
I agree 100%
Nobody can touch her as to feeling & vocal delivery.
Carmen is pure perfection
Listen to her " Book Of Ballads "-----STUNNING!
This lady was and still is so awesome, what a phenomenal vocalist!❤
That was very expressive. A real gem.
Wonderful...Wonderful
Thank you Miss McCrae
You ARE missed
Unbelievable sense of improvisation in her singing.
Carmen McCrae sends chills down my spine, always has always will....
Carmen McRae is one of the most underrated Jazz vocalists of any generation. No one could tell a story with more intimacy than Carmen! Brava!
Love this and her recording of Blame it on My Youth
TO LUIS PAGAN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WISDOM AND EDITORIAL ON MISS CARMAEN McCRAE. PLEASE KEEP IT COMING.
SINCERELY,
DEBBIE OF HAMPTON VIRGINIA
Carmen always amazing in concert & had the thrill from mid-sixties to early nineties and this legendary lady always delivered...small clubs to The Hollywood Bowl, nobody like her...Bravo Carmen and you are missed!
People, like Carmen McRae who left our world, but still dazzling us with your music with maximum expression and sensitivity. We can only love them and perpetuate our emotions create an energy that brings peace, love cradle of the best feelings of humanity.
I love what you wrote.
I am NOT saying this is the BEST version, BUT this is the best version I have ever heard in my sixtysome years. Exquisite!!!!!!!! Impeccable!!!!!!!! Heart centered and SOULFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"In this world when many play at love and hardly any stay at love, I'm so glad there is you..."
I can't scream any louder, or cry any wetter. Gravy, what an interpretation!
this is masterpiece of phrasing, emotions and delivery... :) feeling in love with the sound of her voice...
She is gorgeous!!
superb.
Love her so much, I played her version of Stevie Wonder's "You and I" at my wedding.
I think it is on an album she did with Cal Tjader in the early 80's called HEAT WAVE. Check out Amazon or iTunes. A lot of people say both of her parents were Jamaicans. One of her relatives said the real deal was that Carmen's mom was Jamaican and her dad was born in Costa Rica.
If I am correct, her birthday comes this week on Tuesday, April 7th. Carmen McRae, a master musician and profound musical actress. She advanced the jazz vocal as a living, growing tradition.
A true goddess
@bradly2007 Gosh! Hey... what's up, we have to stop meeting like this LOL! Seriously though I remember being a little girl and my mother playing this over and over with the smell of oxtails permeating the apartment! Her voice resonated in my then little ears then as it does now!
God she's stunning!!
This is simply an amazing performance of this deep song. I first hear this performed by Sarah Vaughn on an album she did with Clifford Brown and a group of all-stars that included Herbie Mann on flute and Paul Quinicette "Little Prez", on tenor. Carmen has a perfect balance of musicality and interpretation on this performance. Breath taking to say the least. I think it will be a while before there is another who has her gift. THIS is my favorite version of this song!
And I’m so glad there is you!! (And even though you’re gone from this plane, you’ll always my favorite jazz singer). Thank you!
my girl...wow! What phrasing...what control...and an impossibly slooow tempo...WOW!!!!
AGREE---SHE IS THE FEMALE EQUIVALENT OF FRANK SINATRA IN THE WAY SHE INTERPRETS THE LYRICS,TO MAKE THE SONG,HERS ONLY
NO ONE WILL EVER TOP CARMEN----A TRUE GODDESS OF MUSIC.
Slhe's just the Best! I put her right up there with Ella, Billie and Sarah. I think I have every CD available. Wonderful late at night...kick back...and just go!
my first slow dance was to this song. i was 16. I love this song. That was the first and last boy I met that understood what real music was. Now everybody is doing the soulja boy.LOL
Always in tears on this one. Music moves me so or should I say real music.
ohhhh my goodness.
she makes it look easy
what an actress she was...
yeah, a lot more than you may realize, but this is my favorite version of this song... And I still listen to The Divine One's rendition. :-)
Carmen has a CD on Atlantic called The Great American Songbook. If you liked this, I am sure you will enjoy that recording from 1972. There is the usa release and the longer japanese release that has between song chat and humor from Ms McRae. Her voice is in good shape and her interpretive skills are at their HEIGHT! Need I say more?
I love her confidence. I see the debate between this version and the Sarah version; I love both for separate reasons and I'll leave it at that. I appreciate the delicacy and warmth of Sarah Vaughan's studio recording. (In her later years, she tended to be less warm but of course still equally fantastic, I think.) Here, I enjoy Carmen's dramatic lyrical reading--which has always been one of her strongsuits.
They can both trade off singing to me!
Carmen McRae is one of the primo songstresses of the 20th century. You can't get better than her. Only Ella and Sarah are a bit notch above. I grew up listening to Carmen, I think she is an absolute gem and and an imperial representative of a jazz singer. There will be no one other than her.
@imbees2 I respectfully disagree with your opinion that Ella and Sarah were a notch above her. Carmen will always be the undisputed Empress of Jazz.
what a wonderfull interpretation!
Creo que no se debe agregar nada, sino sentarse a escuchar y disfrutar a la Gran Carmen McRae. Thank you (Ricardo from Argentina)
An extremely majestic performance by My Queen. She's truly brilliant.
Carrrrrmen! Next to Dee Dee Bridgewater, my favorite jazz singer.
Beautiful singing. Just so beautiful.
SOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
I loved her. I miss her. I love this rendition.
@susuemikado
You nailed your comment about Ms. McCrae. I find myself paying more attention to the lyric when she interprets a song. She gets inside of the lyric in such a way that takes the listener on a ride. With Sarah, (whom I love, and Ella whom I enjoy, I find myself just blown away by the sheer brilliance of their voice and musical technicality. Carmen deceptively delivers on a song but she's complex like Miles with a horn line. So much is delivered in a clean understated way.
Yep. And I'm so glad I was able to see her live so many times
Excellent point. maybe this is what i loved about her,.
Love!
This one is for you Mommy! Go, Carmen! Whooo....
O...M...G!
Carmen's voice was equal to the other two in the sixties but smoking narrowed her range in later years...listen to The Orchestra Recordings and Carmen's voice kicks ass on these like no other...also her Atlantic recordings show a singer with a very impressive voice and technique and I rate her on these with Ella and Sarah!
I loved her phrasing and diction and her edge. She seemed so wise.
Simply outstanding...newly discovered by me!
¡Que voa tan asombrosamente bella!.
Love it, love it, love love it.
Uau!!! This is heaven!
Carmen owns this standard; perhaps rivaled only by Sarah Vaughan's recording. Despite this quality performance by Carmen and her band, the audio is somewhat lacking, but still a great document of her vocal artistry.
❤️❤️❤️
Carmen was as good as anyone ever!
Has any one heard Carmen's performance of "I am Music"? It's available online as a free download somewhere in cyberland... Really good material and interpretation.
Coooooooool
Almost makes me cry
Impressive as usual... glad to see there are so many that share my perception of Carmen's gifts.
@jenmiddaugh ROTF! ME TOO I have to remember to take a breath! GOD SOME PEOPLE SHOULD LIVE FOREVER!
Luiz,
You are correct: Her mom was of Jamaican descent and her dad (or his people) came from Costa Rica. I met her mom; I never met her dad.
Ash
Fantastic song. Carmen is one favorites. Motown's Temptations did a great job too!