McRae, Carmen

April 8, 1922
November 10, 1994

Born in New York City, jazz singer Carmen McRae studied piano as a child and won an Apollo Theater amateur night contest as a pianist-singer. She began her singing career with Benny Carter's orchestra in 1944. In 1948 she began performing regularly in Chicago, where she lived for nearly four years before returning to New York. By 1952 she was the intermission pianist at Minton's in Harlem, a birthplace of bebop. Married briefly to bop drummer Kenny Clarke, she made her first records under the name Carmen Clarke. Influenced by both Billie Holiday (1915–1959) and Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990), she was named Best New Female Singer by Down Beat magazine in 1954, after which she signed a recording contract with Decca Records, for whom she recorded until 1959. Following a move to Los Angeles in the 1960s, McRae made recordings for a number of different labels, including Columbia, Mainstream, Atlantic, Concord, and Novus.

McRae also had an active presence on the international jazz scene, appearing regularly at clubs and festivals until May 1991, when she withdrew from public performance because of failing health. She is one of the important singers who integrated bebop into her vocal style, combining bop phrasing and inflection with sensitivity for the lyrics and dynamics of her material. Among her notable recordings are collections of songs associated with other jazz greats, including Billie Holiday (released in 1962), Nat "King" Cole (1984), Thelonious Monk (1991), and Sarah Vaughan (1991). She died at her home in Beverly Hills California, after suffering a stroke.

See also Holiday, Billie; Jazz Singers; Vaughan, Sarah

Bibliography

Giddins, Gary. Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the 80s. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 2000.

Gourse, Leslie. Carmen McRae: Miss Jazz. New York: Billboard Books, 2001.

bud kliment (1996)
Updated bibliography