Carmen McRae

2 LPs ON 1 CD

This edition presents two amazing LPs featuring Carmen McRae in an intimate setting fronting piano trios. Take Five (Columbia CS9116) marks the second out of three LPs the singer recorded with Dave Brubeck. Ten of its tunes were taped live at Basin Street in New York, while the other two come from studio sessions and were issued with added echo and applause. Live at Sugar Hill, San Francisco (Mainstream S6091/Time S2104) showcases McRae in another live set, this time backed by her regular trio with Norman Simmons on piano. A reading of “Summer Song” by the singer with the Dave Brubeck Trio, and the original unedited studio version of “Easy as You Go” have been added here as a bonus.

PERSONNEL:

CARMEN McRAE vocals on all tracks, plus:

[1-12]: Take Five
DAVE BRUBECK, piano
EUGENE WRIGHT, bass
JOE MORELLO, drums
Live at Basin Street East, New York
Tracks 1-10: September 6, 1961
Track 11: December 15, 1961
Track 12: September-December 1961.

[13-22]: Live at Sugar Hill, San Francisco
NORMAN SIMMONS, piano
VICTOR SPROLES, bass
STU MARTIN, drums
Live at Sugar Hill, San Francisco, September 27 & October 13, 1962.
Original recordings produced by BOB SHAD

[23-24] Bonus tracks:
Same personnel as 1-12.
(23): New York, September 13, 1961.
(24): New York, September-December 1961.

Original recordings produced by TEO MACERO

TRACKS:

01. When I Was Young
02. In Your Own Sweet Way
03. Too Young For Growing
04. Ode To A Cowboy
05. There’ll Be No Tomorrow
06. Melanctha
07. It’s A Raggy Waltz
08. Oh, So Blue
09. Lord, Lord
10. Travellin’ Blues
11. Take Five
12. Easy As You
13. Sunday
14. What Kind Of Fool Am I?
15. A Foggy Day
16. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
17. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
18. Let There Be Love
19. This Is All I Ask
20. Thou Swell
21. It Never Entered My Mind
22. Make Someone Happy
23. Summer Song*
24. Easy As You Go [Unedited Studio Take]*

Total time: 78:34