Carmen McRae, one of the most influential vocalists in the history of jazz, was born on April 8, 1920 in Harlem. Both of Carmen’s parents were immigrants from Jamaica who filled their home with the music of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Carmen began piano lessons when she was eight years old and met Billie Holiday when she was 17. McRae considered Holiday to be her major influence throughout her career.

In her late teens Carmen McRae was discovered by the pianist Teddy Wilson and not too much later she was playing piano at Minton’s Playhouse. She was also singing as a chorus girl and supplementing her income as a secretary. At Minton’s she met Dizzy Gillespie, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke, whom she later married. McRae’s first prominent gig was as a pianist with Benny Carter’s band, and she later worked with Count Basie. She made her first recordings with the Mercer Ellington band in 1946 and 1947 before moving to Chicago in 1948. While there she played piano at several clubs in the Windy City.

McRae returned to New York City in 1952 and got a record contract with Decca Records soon thereafter. While with Decca, she recorded several landmark LPs during the 1950s including two collaborations with Sammy Davis, Jr. and a record of songs by Noel Coward. In 1961 she recorded with Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong. She continued to perform at clubs throughout the world for the remainder of her career and was a regular at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California and made memorable appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and at the North Sea Jazz Festival with Duke Ellington. McRae moved to southern California in the late 1960s but still performed regularly in New York City, often at the Blue Note.

Carmen McRae was nominated for seven Best Jazz Vocal Performance awards at the Grammys, won a NAACP Image Award in 1993 and was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994, the year of her death at age 74.

Here is a link to Carmen McRae singing live in concert in 1986:

"I CONCENTRATE ON YOU"