ALBUM REVIEWS : Tribute to Billie Holiday Is Pure Carmen McRae

CARMEN McRAE

“For Lady Day”

RCA Novus

* * * 1/2

“I’m merely here,” says Carmen McRae in her spoken introduction to this marvelous tribute to Billie Holiday, “to remind you of her taste in tunes, which I thought was phenomenal.” And McRae, typically underestimating her own remarkable contributions to the art of jazz singing, then proceeds to do a lot more than just provide reminders. Tackling the awesome task of singing a program weighted with emotional and historic connections, she richly personalizes many of the songs without intruding upon or attempting to re-characterize Holiday’s classic readings.

The album (recorded live at New York City’s Blue Note club on New Year’s Eve, 1983) is filled with major Holiday-associated numbers--from “Them There Eyes,” to “What a Little Moonlight Can Do.” McRae’s declamatory style brings a different, more up-front articulation to ballads such as “Good Morning Heartache,” “Lover Man” “God Bless the Child” and “Don’t Explain.” Occasionally, she employs a potent technique of gently sliding the lyrics out of the meter in a fashion that is pure McRae. On the faster tempos--”Them There Eyes” and, especially, a romping “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”--her time is impeccable, floating majestically across the top of surging rhythm. And, in a uniquely whimsical added touch, she appends a sexy, hummed chorus of her own to Holiday’s blues, “Fine and Mellow” (with a final explanation, “If you’d like a translation of this, meet me right after the show”).

For jazz fans, this is the late singer at her peak, brilliantly performing a collection of music fully worthy of her extraordinary skills.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).