Carmen McRae

McRae was one of the great jazz singers, a refined vocalist who worked hard at making it all seem so natural and easy. Though influenced by Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra, McRae brought an emotional and stylistic coolness to the party -- a style which even surfaces in her amazing scats. Some of her deserving 1950s albums are finally surfacing on the GRP and Verve labels, and McRae's 1980s Concord sessions are widely available.