Carmen McRae

This pair of 1954 sessions were combined to make up Carmen McRae's debut album, With Mat Mathews and Tony Scott Quartets. The singer is joined by two quartets, one led by accordion player Mat Mathews (with a group including guitarist Mundell Lowe and Herbie Mann, the latter heard making his debut on record as well) and the other by clarinetist Tony Scott (with pianist Dick Katz, bassist Earl May and drummer Osie Johnson). The songs include a couple of standards ("You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" and "Easy to Love"), a few obscurities, and one of McRae's earliest compositions, the ballad "Last Time for Love." The performances are rather brief, with only one approaching the four-minute mark and while McRae's youthful sound is appealing, it is a shame that there isn't a bit more room to add feature her sidemen as well. Scott takes over on piano to provide her sole accompaniment for "Misery." The reverb adding to her voice on some tracks proves a bit distracting, as she really didn't need it. There are five alternate takes added to this CD reissue, which was briefly available during the '90s before it again lapsed from print. ~ Ken Dryden|