Portrait of Carmen is a 1968 studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...

, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson

Oliver Nelson

Oliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...

, Shorty Rogers

Shorty Rogers

Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...

, Benny Carter

Benny Carter

Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...

 and Gene Di Novi.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Jason Ankeny awarded the album four stars and said that "Portrait of Carmen doesn't so much update the great Carmen McRae's sound and sensibility as it reflects a world that's finally caught up to her way of thinking, capitalizing on the irony and sophistication so long essential to her music to create a record that is both fiercely individual and universally accessible. The title's no afterthought...Portrait of Carmen captures her brilliance for posterity".

Track listing

1. "I'm Always Drunk in San Francisco" (Tommy Wolf) - 3:04
2. "Elusive Butterfly" (Bob Lind
   Bob Lind
   Bob Lind is an American folk music singer-songwriter who reached the height of his success during the 1960s...
   
   ) - 3:03
3. "Day by Day
   Day by Day (song)
   "Day by Day" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn.-Recorded versions:*Ernestine Anderson*Ray Anthony*Shirley Bassey*Les Brown & His Orchestra *Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Sextet...
   
   " (Sammy Cahn
   Sammy Cahn
   Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
   
   , Axel Stordahl
   Axel Stordahl
   Axel Stordahl was an arranger who was active from the late 1930s through the 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Sinatra in the 1940s at Columbia Records...
   
   , Paul Weston
   Paul Weston
   Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
   
   ) - 2:28
4. "When You Get Around Me" (Fred E. Ahlert
   Fred E. Ahlert
   Frederick Emil Ahlert was an American composer and songwriter. He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially for Irving Aaronson and his Commanders and then for composer and band-leader Fred Waring...
   
   ) - 2:57
5. "Walking Happy" (Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen) - 2:40
6. "My Very Own Person" (Gene Di Novi) - 2:59
7. "Ask Any Woman" (Gerald Langley, J. Stewart) - 3:01
8. "Boy, Do I Have a Surprise for You" (Novi) - 3:26
9. "Loads of Love" (Richard Rodgers
   Richard Rodgers
   Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
   
   ) - 3:58
10. "I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do" (Lee Pockriss
    Lee Pockriss
    Lee Julian Pockriss was an American songwriter who wrote many well-known popular songs and several scores for films and Broadway shows.-Early life and career:...
    
    , Paul Vance
    Paul Vance
    Paul Vance is an American songwriter and record producer.With over 300 recorded songs, Vance co-wrote such hits as "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," recorded in 1960 by Brian Hyland, which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and "Catch a Falling Star," recorded in 1957 by...
    
    ) - 4:34
11. "Wonder Why" (Nicholas Brodszky, Cahn) - 2:14

Personnel

• Carmen McRae
  Carmen McRae
  Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
  
   - vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Oliver Nelson
  Oliver Nelson
  Oliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
  
   - arranger
  Arrangement
  The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
  
  
• Shorty Rogers
  Shorty Rogers
  Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...
  
  
• Benny Carter
  Benny Carter
  Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
  
  
• Gene Di Novi
• Gene Cipriano - saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  , flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Harry Klee - flute
• Lew McCreary - trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• George Roberts
  George Roberts (trombonist)
  George Roberts is an American trombonist.Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, George began his career after service in the US Navy with the Ray Robbins Band, and then quit to join Gene Krupa in 1947, where he was in the same section with Urbie Green...
  
  
• Louis Blackburn
• Billy Byers
  Billy Byers
  William Mitchell "Billy" Byers was an American jazz trombonist and arranger.Born in Los Angeles, Byers suffered from arthritis from a young age and was unable to continue his plans of a career as a pianist. He picked up trombone and played with Karl Kiffle before serving in the Army in 1944-45...
  
  
• Frank Rosolino
  Frank Rosolino
  Frank Rosolino was an American jazz trombonist.- Biography :Born in Detroit, Michigan, Frank Rosolino studied the guitar with his father from the age of 9. He took up the trombone at age 14 while he was enrolled at Miller High School where he played with Milt Jackson in the school's stage band and...
  
  
• Ernie Tack
• Francis Howard
• Dick Nash
  Dick Nash
  Richard Taylor "Dick" Nash is an American jazz trombonist most associated with the swing and big band genres.He began playing brass instruments at ten. He became more interested in this after his parents died and he was sent to a boarding school. His first instruments were the trumpet and bugle...
  
  
• David Duke - French horn
• William Hinshaw
• Harry Sigismonti
• Dennis Budimir - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Howard Roberts
  Howard Roberts
  Howard Roberts was an American jazz guitarist, educator and session musician.-Biography:Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and began playing guitar at age 8. By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally locally....
  
  
• Tommy Tedesco
  Tommy Tedesco
  Thomas J. Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist.Tedesco's credits include the iconic brand-burning accompaniment theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's iconic theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68...
  
  
• John Collins
  John Collins (jazz guitarist)
  John Elbert Collins was a jazz guitarist who accompanied many swing era names from 1935–1950, including Art Tatum, Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday and Lester Young. His longest association was with Nat "King" Cole, 1951-1965. Known for his rhythm work, he soloed infrequently...
  
  
• Dominick Fera - saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  
• Justin Gordon
• John Lowe
• Theodore Nash
• Buddy Collette
  Buddy Collette
  William Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
  
  
• Bill Green
• Anthony Ortega
• Frank Strozier
  Frank Strozier
  Frank Strozier is an alto saxophonist renowned for his playing in the hard bop idiom.Strozier grew up in Memphis Memphis, Tennessee...
  
  
• John Audino
  John Audino
  -External links:* *...
  
   - trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• James Salko
• Jimmy Zito
• Bobby Bryant
  Bobby Bryant (musician)
  Bobby Bryant was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist.Bryant also played saxophone in his youth. He moved to Chicago in 1952, where he studied at the Cosmopolitan School of Music until 1957. Remaining in the city until 1960, he played with Red Saunders, Billy Williams, and other ensembles...
  
  
• Conte Candoli
  Conte Candoli
  Secondo "Conte" Candoli was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show. He played with Gerry Mulligan, and on Frank Sinatra's TV specials...
  
  
• Freddie Hill
• Al Porcino
  Al Porcino
  Al Porcino is an American jazz trumpeter.Porcino began playing professionally in 1943, playing in many big bands of the 1940s and 1950s, including those of Georgie Auld, Louis Prima, Jerry Wald, Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Chubby Jackson. He played with Woody Herman in 1946, 1949-1950, and again...
  
  
• Richard Perissi - French horn
• Harry Sigismonti
• Ann Mason - harp
  Harp
  The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
  
  
• Ray Brown
  Ray Brown (musician)
  Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
  
   - double bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Norman Simmons
  Norman Simmons (musician)
  Norman Simmons is an American arranger, composer, educator, and most prominently a pianist who has worked extensively with Helen Humes, Carmen McRae, and Sarah Vaughan, Anita O'Day, and Joe Williams among others.-Biography:...
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Earl Palmer
  Earl Palmer
  Earl Cyril Palmer was an American rock & roll and rhythm and blues drummer, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Jack Perling
• Shelly Manne
  Shelly Manne
  Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
  
  
• Victor Feldman
  Victor Feldman
  Victor Stanley Feldman was a British jazz musician, best known as a pianist.-Early history:...
  
   - percussion
• Lou Singer
• Dale Anderson