Tag Archives: Carmen McRae

Cal Tjader & Carmen McRae: Heat Wave

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In January 1982, “Concord Jazz” label released “Heat Wave”, album by Cal Tjader and Carmen McRae album (the 68 Cal Tjader album overall, and his final recording). It was recording in 1981, at “Coast Recorders” in San Francisco, and was produced by Carl Jefferson.

Personnel:

  • Cal Tjader – vibraphone
  • Carmen McRae – vocals
  • Marshall Otwell – piano, arrangements
  • Mark Levine – piano, arrangements
  • Rob Fisher – bass
  • Vince Lateano – drums
  • Poncho Sanchez – congas, percussion
  • Ramon Banda – percussion, timbales
  • Al Bent – trombone
  • Mike Heathman – trombone
  • Phil Edwards – engineer
  • Leonard Feather – liner notes

Track listing:

  1. Heat Wave – Irving Berlin
  2. All in Love Is Fair – Stevie Wonder
  3. Besame Mucho – Sunny Skylar, Consuelo Velázquez
  4. Evil Ways – Sonny Henry
  5. Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me – Duke Ellington, Bob Russell
  6. Love – Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin
  7. Upside Down (Flor de Lis) – Djavan, Regina Wernech
  8. The Visit – Ivan Lins, Vítor Martins, Regina Wernech
  9. Speak Low – Ogden Nash, Kurt Weill
  10. Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing – Stevie Wonder

Eugene Wright

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On December 30, 2020, Eugene Joseph Wright died aged 97. He was musician (bass), worked with Monty Alexander, Charlie Parker, Lee Shaw, Gene Ammons, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Buddy DeFranco, Cal Tjader, Vince Guaraldi, Kai Winding, Sonny Stitt, Dottie Dodgion, and Dorothy Donegan, but was best known as a member and the bass player of the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Carmen McRae: Same

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On March 23, 1955, “Bethlehem” label released the self – titled, third Carmen McRae album. It was recorded October – December 1954.

Personnel:

  • Carmen McRae- vocals
  • Herbie Mann- flute, tenor saxophone
  • Mat Mathews- accordion
  • Mundell Lowe- guitar
  • Tony Scott- clarinet, piano
  • Dick Katz- piano
  • Skip Fawcett- double bass
  • Wendell Marshall- double bass
  • Kenny Clarke- drums
  • Osie Johnson– drums

Track listing:

  1. You’d Be So Easy to Love – Cole Porter
  2. If I’m Lucky (I’ll Be The One) – Chuck Darwin, Paulette Girard
  3. Old Devil Moon – Y. “Yip” Harburg, Burton Lane
  4. Tip Toe Gently – Mat Mathews, Paulette Girard
  5. You Made Me Care – Chuck Darwin, Paulette Girard
  6. Last Time for Love
  7. Misery – Tony Scott
  8. Too Much in Love to Care

Dizzy Gillespie

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On January 6, 1993, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie died aged 75. He was musician (trumpet), singer, composer and bandleader, trumpet virtuoso and improviser,  regarded as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time. Together with Charlie Parker, Gillespie was major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He has recorded and performed with some of the most important musicians in the jazz history, including Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Stan Getz, Sonny Stit,Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins,Benny Golson, Bobby Hackett, Mary Lou Williams, Willie Ruff, Dwike Mitchell, Art Blakey, Al McKibbon, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding, Joe Turner, Roy Eldridge, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson, John Lewis, Hank Jones, Percy Heath, Roy Eldridge,  Machito, Benny Carter, Lalo Schifrin, Count Basie, Freddie Hubbard,  Arturo Sandoval, Phil Woods, Moe Koffman, United Nation Orchestra, Jackie McLean, Percy Heath, Ron Holloway, Ed Cherry, John Lee, Ignacio Berroa, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Mike Longo, Manhattan Transfer,  Carmen McRae, Katie Bell Nubin,  Mongo Santamaria, Woody Shaw, Lillian Terry and Randy Weston.

Shirley Horn

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On October 20, 2005, Shirley Valerie Horn died aged 71. She was singer and musician (piano),  became one of the best known and most successful female singers in the jazz history. Horn performed and recorded with many jazz greats including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis, Stuff Smith, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Charlie Haden, Oscar Peterson,  Joe Williams, Jeffery Smith, Clark Terry, Bill Charlap and others. For her work she had received many awards including: “Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance”; “National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award”, and “Honorary Doctor of Music Degree” from the “Berklee College of Music”.

Benny Carter

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On July 12, 2003, Bennett Lester “Benny” Carter, died aged 96. He was musician (alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet), composer, arranger, and bandleader,  regarded a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s. In his career the “King” performed with Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Miles Davis,  Django Reinhardt, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Phil Woods, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Ben Webster, Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, Lou Rawls, Louis Armstrong, Freddie Slack and Mel Torme.

For his work Benny Carter received big number of awards including: “The NEA Jazz Masters Award by The National Endowment for the Arts”, “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” , “Grammy Award” for his solo “Prelude to a Kiss”, “A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame”, “National Endowment for the Arts”, “National Medal of Arts”.