Instead of reissuing all of singer Carmen McRae's early records for Decca in chronological order, the GRP program has hedged its bets a bit by coming up with highlights from each of her sessions although, with the various CDs on a whole, nearly everything has being reissued anyway.
The 20 numbers on this CD are taken from ten different sessions and find McRae joined by the Mat Mathews Quintet (featuring flutist Herbie Mann), the Ray Bryant Trio, and several large orchestras.
The repertoire is taken from the songbooks of some of the classic American composers (including Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Rodgers & Hart and Arlen); McRae's interpretations are both respectful and swinging.
It is particularly interesting to hear how high her voice could go in the early days.
This CD is easily recommended to her fans.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Last Night When We Were YoungHarold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:37 | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| 2 | I Was Doing All RightGeorge Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Carmen McRae | Play | 02:47 | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| 3 | I Concentrate on YouCole Porter | Carmen McRae | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | You Took Advintage Of Me | Carmen Mcrae | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| 5 | A'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket | Carmen Mcrae | Play | 02:23 | 5 MB | 7 MB |
| 6 | Between The Davil And The Deep Blue Sea | Carmen Mcrae | Play | 02:27 | 5 MB | 6 MB |
| 7 | My Mman's Gone Now | Carmen Mcrae | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 13 MB |
| 8 | Every Time We Say Goodbye | Carmen Mcrae | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 23 mins | 54 MB | |||||
| 23 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Abney | Piano |
| 2 | Alba Acevedo | Design |
| 3 | Harold Arlen | Composer |
| 4 | Billy Bean | Guitar |
| 5 | Joe Benjamin | Bass |
| 6 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 7 | Milt Bernhart | Trombone |
| 8 | Ray Bryant | Piano |
| 9 | Larry Bunker | Drums |
| 10 | Ralph Burns | Arranger, Conductor |
| 11 | Pete Candoli | Trumpet |
| 12 | Mahlon Clark | Clarinet (Bass) |
| 13 | Kenny Clarke | Drums |
| 14 | Tadd Dameron | Arranger, Conductor |
| 15 | Vincent DeRosa | French Horn |
| 16 | Joseph Doughney | Post Production |
| 17 | Bob Enevoldsen | Trombone |
| 18 | Milt Gabler | Producer |
| 19 | George Gershwin | Composer |
| 20 | Ira Gershwin | Composer |
| 21 | Justin Gordon | Clarinet (Bass) |
| 22 | Bill Green | Flute |
| 23 | Dave Grusin | Executive Producer |
| 24 | Oscar Hammerstein II | Composer |
| 25 | Otto Harbach | Composer |
| 26 | E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | Composer |
| 27 | Lorenz Hart | Composer |
| 28 | Luther Henderson | Arranger, Conductor |
| 29 | Edward Heyman | Composer |
| 30 | DuBose Heyward | Composer |
| 31 | Frank Hunter | Arranger, Conductor |
| 32 | Ike Isaacs | Bass |
| 33 | Calvin Jackson | Piano |
| 34 | Scott Johnson | Art Direction |
| 35 | Tommy Johnson | Tuba |
| 36 | Dick Katz | Piano |
| 37 | Fred Katz | Arranger, Conductor |
| 38 | Orrin Keepnews | Producer, Reissue Producer |
| 39 | Jerome Kern | Composer |
| 40 | Harry Klee | Flute |
| 41 | Ted Koehler | Composer |
| 42 | Erick Labson | Audio Enhancement |
| 43 | Michael Landy | Post Production |
| 44 | Steve Lasker | Consultant |
| 45 | Ray Linn | Trumpet |
| 46 | Herbie Mann | Flute |
| 47 | Wendell Marshall | Bass |
| 48 | Mat Mathews | Accordion |
| 49 | Carmen McRae | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 50 | Red Mitchell | Bass |
| 51 | Jimmy Mundy | Arranger, Conductor |
| 52 | Jack Pleis | Arranger, Conductor |
| 53 | Cole Porter | Composer |
| 54 | Richard Rodgers | Composer |
| 55 | Larry Rosen | Executive Producer |
| 56 | Jackie Salway | Design |
| 57 | Dan Serrano | Art Direction |
| 58 | Charlie Smith | Drums |
| 59 | Claydes Smith | Drums |
| 60 | George "Harmonica" Smith | Clarinet |
| 61 | Neil Tesser | Liner Notes |
| 62 | Ned Washington | Composer |
| 63 | Specs Wright | Drums |
| 64 | Victor Young | Composer |
| 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). |