Search - Carmen McRae :: Any Old Time (Mlps)

My favorite Carmen Mcrae album

B. Redman | l | 12/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is my favorite Carmen Mcrae album and one of my favorite jazz vocalist albums. Here Carmen shows why she is one of the best jazz vocal interpreters of all time. She finds the real, unsentimental, but truly emotional core of the songs. In addition, her interpretations are fresh and unique. She is in good voice; in fact her voice is less "astringent" here than in some of her earlier work. She and her accompanists share that almost telepathic give and take that occurs in real jazz. Carmen's timing and phrasing are impeccable. In short, this performance is everything that jazz should be."

Well worth looking for.

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 01/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A hard-to-find album produced by Nippon Columbia, this 1986 studio session is certainly one of Carmen's best late-career recordings. Rather than straining to be the old Carmen, she's playing to her dramatic-interpretive strengths while laying off the sustained upper-register notes that had begun to sour a bit on her.For this listener, the highlight is the title song, a gorgeous chestnut composed by Artie Shaw and originally recorded by Artie along with Lady Day. It should be front-row center in the "American Songbook." And listen to what Carmen does after her first chorus: she lays out in favor of a Mark Pulice drum solo--and on a ballad! I'd still be shaking my head were this tune not immediately followed by an equally effective interpretation of the Jimmy Van Heusen favorite, "It Could Happen to You" (which features a flawlessly flowing piano solo by Eric Gunnison).(The album really merits about 4 stars in the Carmen canon, but how many times does a recording deliver more than you'd hoped for?)"

A real gem

tim frostad | kent, wa | 05/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album has definitive versions of some of the best jazz standards. Check out,It could happen to you, a whimsical journey in how to phrase a song. Ms Mcrae knew how to pick, phrase & perform a song more than most singers ever will. Romance abounds in Any old time, Body & soul, This is always, & I'm glad there is you. There are a few throw aways but they don't hurt too much as the rest are just too good to miss. Buy it!"