The Sound of Silence is a 1968 studio album by Carmen McRae, produced by Joel Dorn. Carmen McRae was at her absolute peak when signed to Atlantic Records in the sixties. Every song is tremendous in this classic set featuring the magical voice of Carmen McRae in rich and powerful sublime form with glorious tones, easily making her one of the best of the greatest ever while earning that "Singer's Singer" title.
Yes, there's a concept on the loose here - all the songs are about birds. Fortunately, there are plenty of good songs on the subject, and it's not so narrow that all the focus hinges on birds themselves. Carmen McRae is supported by a good small group, directed and arranged by Ralph Burns, featuring guitarist Mundell Lowe and many solos for an uncredited "tenorman" (i.e., Ben Webster). Both McRae and Webster do their best on the driving, horn-heavy score for "Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight)." First, Webster follows closely along with trumpeter Irwin "Marky" Markowitz while McRae vocalizes clearly and with some swing, then launches a beautiful solo before McRae returns for the closer. Other highlights include the touching "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and a relaxed, pastoral "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano."
This edition combines several outstanding sessions by Carmen McRae - dating between December 1955 and August 1958 - under the musical direction of the brilliant arranger and conductor Ralph Burns. Armed with an orchestra boasting a 10-piece string section, Burns’ subtle and evocative charts provide a strong yet delicate support that gracefully enhances the vocalist’s talents without ever overpowering her. The addition of guest soloist tenor saxophonist Ben Webster - who for contractual reasons recorded here under the pseudonym "A Tenorman" - brought another dimension to the magical quality of these recordings. His breathy and expressive sound proves the perfect counterpoint to McRae’s versatile and passionate vocal style.
24bit digitally remastered release of Carmen Mcrae's performance at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The inimitable jazz vocalist Carmen McRae toplined this live set at the Los Angeles Century Plaza Hotel's Hong Kong Bar in late December 1968. The concert took place not long after McRae recorded two excellent, underrated LPs for Atlantic Records – Portrait of Carmen (1967) and Sound of Silence (1968). Atlantic set up and contractually licensed the rights to the Century Plaza show, but inexplicably waited years to do anything with the material, until label executive Nesuhi Ertegun finally produced a truncated version in 1975.
Import 25 CD boxset containing 25 of the finest Jazz albums ever released. Each album is packaged in a card wallet, and the box set includes a 40 page booklet in both English and French. The collection contains the following albums: Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown; Dave Brubeck - Jazz Goes To College; Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats; Miles Davis - Round About Midnight; Various Artists - The Sound Of Jazz; Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um; Sonny Rollins - The Bridge; Paul Desmond - Desmond Blue; Thelonious Monk - Underground; Freddie Hubbard - Straight Life; Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire…
This is the second half of a previously unreleased Carmen McRae live performance from Ratso's jazz club in Chicago in 1976, and McRae is at her best. The play list for this volume is completely different than that appearing on Vol. 1. Nonetheless, it also is an eclectic offering of songs from a variety of composing sources, including Barry Mann, Marilyn & Alan Bergman, and Jimmy Rowles, to name a few. Composers had to feel very satisfied to have any of their output performed by McRae, as she was a one-of-a-kind advocate of vocal material.
On this CD, Carmen McRae is featured in a live set recorded in 1981 at Bubba's, a Ft. Lauderdale nightclub. Accompanied by a very compatible trio, including Marshall Otwell (her regular pianist of the time), bassist Jim Andron, and drummer Mark Pulice, McRae is in good form as she mixes timeless standards and a few pop songs of the day. Her vocals are confident and seem effortless, revisiting old friends such as "That Old Black Magic," a Latin-flavored "I Concentrate on You," a rapid-fire "Thou Swell," a miniature "If I Were a Bell," and an extended interpretation of the tender ballad "My Foolish Heart."
Limited edition Deluxe 8CD set featuring the best female voices in jazz history. This is no ordinary compilation, but an anthology of 15 complete original albums by some of the best loved jazz vocalists: Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Anita O day, Abbey Lincoln, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald etc.
Ron Hitchcock has managed to unearth previously unreleased material, mostly live performances, of Stan Kenton andWoody Herman, among others. His endeavors have resulted in a respectable catalog for his Hitchcock Media company. Hitchcock outdid himself this time by releasing in two volumes of Carmen McRae's appearance at the now defunct Ratso's Jazz Club in Chicago in 1976. Both volumes come from Saturday and Sunday night performances. Each CD has its own distinct and diverse play list; there are no duplications.