McRae, Carmen

born April 8, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.

died Nov. 10, 1994, Beverly Hills, Calif.

U.S. singer and pianist.

McRae was influenced by Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. She began her career in 1943 singing at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, absorbing the innovations of the first bebop musicians. Working as a soloist from the mid-1950s, McRae became one of the most accomplished scat singers and ballad interpreters in jazz.

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▪ 1995

      U.S. vocalist (b. April 8, 1920, New York, N.Y.—d. Nov. 10, 1994, Beverly Hills, Calif.), mingled subtle technique and a dry contralto voice with swing, edgy wit, and a thoughtful ballad approach to become one of the most admired jazz singers of her generation. Compared with such contemporaries as Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, McRae had a narrow vocal range, yet her stylistic ingenuity, generally unsentimental manner, and care for the meanings of lyrics made her distinctive. She studied piano in her youth and won an amateur talent contest singing at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem in 1939; not long thereafter she met the innovative Billie Holiday, who became the major influence on her style. After touring (1946-47) with the Mercer Ellington band, she spent a crucial formative 3 1/2 years in Chicago before returning to New York and winning a New Star award from Down Beat magazine. She began her prolific solo recording career about 1953 and soon was working with top arrangers such as Tadd Dameron and Ralph Burns and collaborating with Sammy Davis, Jr. (1957-58; Boy Meets Girl and Porgy and Bess) and Dave Brubeck (1960-61). Instrumentalists such as tenor saxophonists Ben Webster and Zoot Sims and the Quincy Jones and Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland big bands sometimes accompanied her (the great drummer Clarke had been her first husband). Typically, though, on record and on her many nightclub and concert tours, she was accompanied by piano trios. Among her last projects, before she retired in 1991, were recorded tributes to Vaughan and composer Thelonious Monk.

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▪ American jazz vocalist

born April 8, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.

died Nov. 10, 1994, Beverly Hills, Calif.

      American jazz vocalist and pianist who from an early emulation of vocalist Billie Holiday (Holiday, Billie) grew to become a distinctive stylist, known for her smoky voice and her melodic variations on jazz standards. Her scat improvisations were innovative, complex, and elegant.

      McRae studied classical piano as a child, worked with bandleaders Benny Carter (Carter, Benny) and Count Basie (Basie, Count) in the mid-1940s, and made her recording debut as Carmen Clarke (she was at the time married to jazz drummer Kenny Clarke (Clarke, Kenny)) with Mercer Ellington's orchestra in 1946–47. She spent several years as an intermission pianist and singer at Minton's Playhouse in New York City until successfully recording in 1953 and 1954. From the mid-1950s, she toured extensively (being particularly popular in Japan), recorded frequently, and appeared in many musical contexts.

      McRae recorded with several jazz notables, including Louis Armstrong (Armstrong, Louis), Dave Brubeck (Brubeck, Dave), Joe Pass, and George Shearing. Her outstanding recordings include Here to Stay, a collection of sides from the late 1950s; Lover Man (1962); and The Great American Songbook (1972). In later years, McRae issued a series of highly regarded albums that paid tribute to other jazz artists, such as Nat King Cole (Cole, Nat King), Billie Holiday (Holiday, Billie), Thelonious Monk (Monk, Thelonious), and Sarah Vaughan (Vaughan, Sarah). McRae is remembered for her elegance and her ability to invest herself emotionally and intellectually in a song's lyrics. Jazz critic Ralph Gleason described a McRae song as an “exercise in dramatic art.”

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