Carmen McRae made many worthwhile albums during her long career, but this session of mostly melancholy ballads never received the exposure it deserved, possibly because it was done for Mort Fega's small independent label, Focus.
But the singer, who is in top form throughout the date, responds beautifully to pianist Norman Simmons' well-crafted charts; the rest of the cast includes drummer Curtis Boyd; bassist Victor Sproles; and a last minute but valuable substitute, guitarist Mundell Lowe.
Her dramatic lagging behind the beat in "The Meaning of the Blues" adds to its appeal.
"Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" is the only extended piece and was already a regular part of her repertoire by the time of this recording, so her effortless take is no surprise.
McRae was an excellent pianist and accompanies herself on the defiant "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life." Duke Ellington's meditative "Come Sunday" provides a ray of hope among the otherwise bittersweet songs on this CD.
Fortunately, Koch had the wisdom to reissue this lost treasure, and it easily ranks among Carmen McRae's best recordings.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | When Sunny Gets BlueMarvin Fisher, Jack Segal | Carmen McRae | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 17 MB |
| 2 | Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to DrySammy Cahn, Jule Styne | Carmen McRae | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 16 MB |
| 3 | The Meaning of the BluesBobby Troup, Leah Worth | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:49 | 6 MB | 12 MB |
| 4 | If You Could Love MeNorman Simmons | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:08 | 4 MB | 8 MB |
| 5 | Spring Can Really Hang You up the MostFran Landesman, Tommy Wolf | Carmen McRae | Play | 06:21 | 14 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | Second ChanceDory Langdon, André Previn | Carmen McRae | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 16 MB |
| 7 | If You Could See Me NowTadd Dameron, Carl Sigman | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:52 | 6 MB | 12 MB |
| 8 | Here's That Rainy DayJohnny Burke, James Van Heusen | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:44 | 6 MB | 10 MB |
| 9 | I'm Gonna Laugh You Right out of My LifeCy Coleman, Joseph McCarthy | Carmen McRae | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 14 MB |
| 10 | Ghost of YesterdayArthur Herzog, Jr., Irene Kitchings | Carmen McRae | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 13 MB |
| 11 | I'm LostOtis Rene | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:53 | 6 MB | 12 MB |
| 12 | Come SundayDuke Ellington | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 11 MB |
| 13 | How Did He Look | Carmen Mcrae | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 13 MB |
| 43 mins | 99 MB | |||||
| 43 mins | 189 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curtis Boyd | Drums |
| 2 | Johnny Burke | Composer |
| 3 | Sammy Cahn | Composer |
| 4 | Colleen Cody | Reissue Design |
| 5 | Cy Coleman | Composer |
| 6 | Tadd Dameron | Composer |
| 7 | Tom Dowd | Engineer |
| 8 | Donald Elfman | Producer |
| 9 | Duke Ellington | Composer |
| 10 | Mort Fega | Producer |
| 11 | Marvin Fisher | Composer |
| 12 | James Gavin | Liner Notes |
| 13 | Ralph J. Gleason | Liner Notes |
| 14 | Burt Goldblatt | Cover Photo |
| 15 | Arthur Herzog, Jr. | Composer |
| 16 | James Van Heusen | Composer |
| 17 | Irene Kitchings | Composer |
| 18 | Fran Landesman | Composer |
| 19 | Dory Langdon | Composer |
| 20 | Mundell Lowe | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 21 | Joseph McCarthy | Composer |
| 22 | Carmen McRae | Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 23 | André Previn | Composer |
| 24 | Otis Rene | Composer |
| 25 | Jack Segal | Composer |
| 26 | Gladys Shelley | Composer |
| 27 | Carl Sigman | Composer |
| 28 | Abner Silver | Composer |
| 29 | Norman Simmons | Composer, Guest Artist, Piano |
| 30 | Victor Sproles | Bass |
| 31 | Jule Styne | Composer |
| 32 | Bobby Troup | Composer |
| 33 | Tommy Wolf | Composer |
| 34 | Leah Worth | Composer |
| 35 | Naomi Yoshii | Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |