Cheap Carmen McRae Live (DVD) Price

Vocalist Carmen McRae was almost 64 when she performed this August 1986 concert in Japan. And while 64 may be past the prime of, say, a baseball player or an astronaut (John Glenn might beg to differ), the 80-minute concert offers effortless evidence that McRae was at the absolute top of her game. The setting isn't what you'd call intimate; most jazz musicians would prefer a smoky nightclub to the relatively antiseptic and formal atmosphere of Tokyo's Kan-I Hoken Hall. No problem for McRae, who leads her trio (Pat Coil, piano; Bob Bowman, bass; Mark Pulice, drums) through a selection of some 19 tunes, mostly standards like "That Old Black Magic," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Dindi"; she also accompanies herself on piano on "That Old Devil Called Love" and "As Long as I Live." All of it is classic Carmen. She uses her voice like a horn, improvising almost all the way, hinting at and toying with the melody, growling and soaring, totally at ease with not knowing exactly what's coming next. No pyrotechnics here--just a mature jazz artist who could swing like crazy on the uptempo material, caress every nuance from the ballads ("My Old Flame" is especially lovely), and bring both complete respect and a sense of humor to every note she sang. Composer credits would be nice, as would some more bonus DVD features (which include only a selectable song menu and a partial discography), but it's the music that matters, and Carmen McRae doesn't come any better than this. --Sam Graham

CATEGORY:	DVD
THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE:	01 January, 1986
MANUFACTURER:	Image Entertainment
MPAA RATING:	NR (Not Rated)
FEATURES:	Color
TYPE:	Jazz Music
MEDIA:	DVD
# OF MEDIA:	1
UPC:	014381571523