Carmen McRae: Bitttersweet CD Track Listing

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Carmen McRae Bitttersweet
Originally Released May 20, 1964\nCD Edition Released April 9, 2002\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Carmen McRae made many worthwhile albums during her \nlong career, but this session of mostly melancholy ballads never received \nthe exposure it deserved, possibly because it was done for Mort Fega's \nsmall independent label, Focus. But the singer, who is in top form throughout \nthe date, responds beautifully to pianist Norman Simmons' well-crafted \ncharts; the rest of the cast includes drummer Curtis Boyd; bassist Victor \nSproles; and a last minute but valuable substitute, guitarist Mundell \nLowe. Her dramatic lagging behind the beat in "The Meaning of the Blues" \nadds to its appeal. "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" is the only \nextended piece and was already a regular part of her repertoire by the \ntime of this recording, so her effortless take is no surprise. McRae was \nan excellent pianist and accompanies herself on the defiant "I'm Gonna \nLaugh You Right Out of My Life." Duke Ellington's meditative "Come Sunday" \nprovides a ray of hope among the otherwise bittersweet songs on this CD. \nFortunately, Koch had the wisdom to reissue this lost treasure, and it \neasily ranks among Carmen McRae's best recordings. -- Ken Dryden\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nAn absolutley stunnig performance of ballads., September 16, 2002 \nReviewer: Richard Meyer from Woodbridge, VA United States \nI recorded this LP from a friend years & erased/lost the tape.I knew it \nwas excellent but was a lot younger then & did not realize how exquisite.Gag \nme with a spoon on "If You Could Love Me";the story of my life; don't \nremember that one,this my favorite ballad of hers & have been collecting \nCarmen's for 30 yrs.It is refreshing to hear Carmen do 4 or so Sarah Vaughan \nclassics,a different but superb approach.All of the other songs are impeccable.The \nliner notes are interesting how Carmen called Mundell Lowe at the last \nminute because a previous hired guitarist couldn't read Norman Simmons' \narrangements.Funny Sarah did a fantistic accompany by Mundell & just a \nbass vile on a Roulette recording entitled"After Hours".Carmen sings all \nthese pithy standards with a piano player,guitarist & a bass vile player.Sarah \nalso does another Roulette"Sarah+2"with just a guitarist,Barney Kessel& \nbass vile Joe Comfort backing her where Sarah also sings that lovely song \n"When Sunny Gets Blue"This Bittersweet& the 2 Sarah albums are not rythmical \nwith big orchestras but are filled with pithy standards enunciated & sung \nto perfection for the jazz connoiseur;nothing light to click to click \nyour heels up to."Bittersweet" surpasses "Book of Ballads" on Decca which \nis also excellent.When you think of all ballads by an artist, you say \nOH NO! But not with Carmen or Sarah.I fully agree with the other review.Beg,borrow,buy \nor steal this one it is a must.It says in the notes distributed by Atlantic \nif so why can't they manage to reprint Carmen's 1st album on Atlantic \n"For Once In My Life" an absolute masterpiece.They say there is one reprinted \nin Japan.They say there are free computers, pictures of Big Foot,and a \nCD of Carmen McRae doing "For Once In My Life" but I have never touched,seen \nor had one in my hand. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nCARMEN MCRAE AT HER BEST, April 26, 2002 \nReviewer: Giovanni from Chicago, IL \nGreat to see this album on CD. Carmen Mcrae really shows the world "what \nshe's got" here. For years, due to bad management and Decca's fault, Carmen \nfloundered about, making small jazz clubs and small hit records. It's \nno wonder she flew from label to label for many years. Had she been left \nto wallow at Decca, she might have never gotten past the commercial tunes, \nsuch as the case with Ella Fitzgerald, who also lacked that backing at \nDecca...we may have never known any more of her than LADY BE GOOD if the \npowers that be had their way. Happily, that wasnt the case for Ella or \nCarmen, but I digress... Carmen Mcrae fans will relish this very moody \ncollection of superior ballads. Recorded in 1964, this set finds Carmen \nbacked by (mostly) her trio. It was her first pairing with pianist Norman \nSimmons, and this recording session (all the songs were cut at one date!) \nresulted in a 10 plus year union between him and Mcrae. Right from the \nstart, her ethereal a cappella intro to WHEN SUNNY GETS BLUE will give \nyou goose bumps. She eases the arrangement along before finishing with \na satiny tag. Carmen's rendition of Tommy Wolf's SPRING CAN REALLY HANG \nYOU UP THE MOST is downright uncanny, and really captures the emotion \nbehind the changing of the seasons for the seasoned storyteller that Carmen \nhas become during this number. Classic jazz performance of this hard to \nsing song. The husband and wife team of Andre Previn and Dory Langdon \nprovide Carmen (and now, us) with the superb ballad SECOND CHANCE. (Had \nonly heard Sammy Davis sing this one on an old LP before) Carmen really \nputs this one away. IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW is another oft overlooked \njazz staple, stemming from a passage in Dizzy Gillespie's "Groovin' High" \nassignment (thanks to the liner notes, my suspicions were correct about \nthe birth of this tune!) became a song Carmen would often use throughout \nthe remainder of her life. There are notes played on the piano and an \neffect by Curtis Boyd on drums at the end of the Burke/Van Heusen evergreen \nHERE'S THAT RAINY DAY that sum up the entire outing, and Carmen's voice \nis particularly well complemented by said ending. Of GHOST OF YESTERDAY, \none gets to thinking of ROUND MIDNIGHT, but in all actuality this was \na Lady Day vehicle that Carmen had been wanting to record for some time, \nand her timing (as always) was impeccable, and it shows here. Lastly, \nI'd like to mention the plaintiveness in the Duke Ellington penned COME \nSUNDAY. It makes the message just as sweet and beautiful as the messenger. \nCarmen would go on to record similar collections of ballads (SECOND TO \nNONE on the MAINSTREAM label being one) and some say her best work started \nlater, after her less than fruitful Decca period. I concur...and this \nfantastic CD is proof. \n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nPersonnel includes: Carmen McRae (vocals, piano); Norman Simmons (piano); \nMundell Lowe (guitar); Victor Sproles (bass); Curtis Boyd (drums).\n
This jazz cd contains 13 tracks and runs 43min 17sec.
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