Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Carmen McRae

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip:

Carmen McRae

In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing dedicated to what can only be described as...The True Divas. These are ones that may do many things in life, but from the moment they opened their mouths to sing they became the one thing they were meant to become: a true diva.

One such stirring soul?

The raw and rhapsodic Carmen McRae.

From where does that voice come from?

Wrapped in the curl of a wisp of smoke and with a musical sense born deep within, it is like no other.

Her phrasing? Her timing? Truly original. 

And not hurried. Oh, no... that is not this diva's style. 

Whether singing jazz, or selections from the American songbook, or putting her unique stamp on a modern bit of pop... the woman owns it and reels in her listeners like sailors to a siren. 

But your in in no danger... unless you hate having a good time.

She wears a song like a pair of shoes... it may start out shiny, tight and new... but with time, this lady stretches them and breaks them in until they're comfortable, lived-in and with a bit of wiggle room.

Our songstress paid her dues the old-fashioned way, and while she may not have shown as brightly or glittered like some... time has been her friend; her place among legends well-earned.

If you don't know much about her, don't be shy. Dig in. Her back catalog is a true delight. 

Treat your ears and allow this rarest of souls to cast her spell and work her magic.

So, grab your cocktail of choice, sit back, relax, and listen to a voice which has truly lived and loved her music.

The gospel according to her?

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? The Piano.

"I went to Chicago and liked the city. In order to stay I had to make a living. A friend of mine who was an ex-chorus girl knew I could play and sing, which I would do just for friends, not professionally. She said, "Why don’t you take a job playing and singing?" I said to her, "Lulu, that sounds great, but I don’t know if I’m capable." She said, "I know someone who wants a girl singer and piano player. If you go and you don’t make it at least you tried." I said, "It’s hard for a woman like myself, who is an Aries, to take a defeat. I would rather hear nothing than hear no." She convinced me, I went, and the man there was beautiful to me. I will never forget him. He gave me a job for two weeks, with a two-week option to play the piano and sing. He advanced me money to join the union. I stayed two weeks, and he picked up the option."

"I realized that my piano playing was very limited, because I had never intended to become a real pianist except just to play for myself or to rehearse a tune. It became essential to play better. I stayed at that job for seventeen weeks. During that time I hired a piano, and as my repertoire was very shallow, I rehearsed every day until my repertoire grew bigger. I stayed in Chicago and worked there for three and a half years, which was the greatest experience I could ever have had. I don’t care that it happened in Chicago. I don’t care where it happened, as long as it happened. I found out that I could make a living playing and singing. My idols were great pianists like Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum, so I could not be fooled by my own piano playing at all. My piano playing was just a means to get where I wanted to get as a singer."

"Going by my experience, it is one of the most important things. I don’t believe I would have whatever reputation I have today if I had not had any knowledge of the piano. That experience of studying music is what put me where I am today. Without it I would perhaps not even be singing, or of I had become a singer, it might not be as impressive as whatever it is I do now. I have said this for years and I still think it is extremely important. It is important if you want to be a lasting artist. Any artist who really knows what he or she is doing musically will last. I think it’s the non-professional professionals who fade out. They earn a lot of money in a minute, yet don’t make it somehow. After they're gone, people don’t even remember who they were. That’s why it’s very important to know your craft."

Isn't It Romantic - Carmen McRae

'Round Midnight - Carmen McRae

Bye, Bye Blackbird - Carmen McRae w/ Count Basie

And one more parting shot...

"Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread--without it, it's flat."

"I am jazz-oriented; if it weren’t for jazz I wouldn’t be anywhere. I only want to be categorized as a good or a bad singer. I originally started as a so-called jazz singer. I was dubbed that somewhere along the line, and I never really thought about it. I really didn’t start out to be a jazz singer; I just started out to sing. But it was awfully hard, as it is for any musician, to play and not to improvise in some sort of way on the melody. If doing that made me a jazz singer, then yes, that’s what I am. I have also done many tunes that couldn’t possibly be called jazz tunes and made many single records that were not jazz."

 

"Everything I do, I choose very, very carefully, because if I don't like it, I can't make you like it."