Carmen Sings Carmen: Echoes of Carmen McRae, has been rising on the NACC Jazz Chart since its release in August 2025.
When jazz vocalist and Michigan State University College of Music associate professor Carmen Bradford first visited the University of Northern Colorado eight years ago, she had no idea the seeds of a major artistic project were being planted. But after a memorable residency with the school’s jazz studies program director Dana Landry and his Compass Jazz Orchestra, she made a simple suggestion: “We should record. We should do an album.”
Three and a half years later, Landry called her back with a proposal and a title: Carmen Sings Carmen, a tribute to the legendary Carmen McRae. According to Bradford, Landry said, “I love Carmen McRae, and I love you, and I have an idea.”
Now, a lush, swinging big band album called Carmen Sings Carmen: Echoes of Carmen McRae, is out and climbing the charts. The material displays Bradford’s commanding voice and deep reverence for one of jazz’s most influential vocalists and features the Compass Jazz Orchestra. All arrangements are crafted in the style of the Count Basie Orchestra—a nod to Bradford’s own roots as a longtime featured vocalist with the Basie band.
Carmen Bradford (center) said that this new album sprung from an idea of Dana Landry (right) who allowed her to choose the songs and have the last word on mixing, mastering, and cover art. Others engaged in what Bradford said was a positive project in every aspect were producer Jim White (second from right), and Erik Applegate (second from left) who wrote the arrangement for “Sometimes I’m Happy.”
“This is a big band album, my first solo big band recording without my Basie Brothers dragging me along for the fun,” Bradford says in the album’s liner notes.
Bradford, a 2022 Grammy nominee and recipient of the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s Jazz Vocalist Award, has built a career that bridges generations of jazz. The daughter of jazz vocalist Melba Joyce and cornetist Bobby Bradford, she was hired by Count Basie at just 22 years old and toured extensively with his orchestra for more than a decade. She remains a member of the Count Basie Orchestra, and her Grammy win is from their 2024 album “Basie Swings the Blues.”
In total, Bradford has been nominated for Grammy Awards five times, notably in 1991 when she worked with George Benson while a member of the Basie band. An exceptional moment from the album “Big Boss Band” in 1991 is their duet on “How Do You Keep the Music Playing.” Bradford and Benson’s live performance of the song on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson clearly showed the depth and chemistry between the singers.
At age 22, Carmen Bradford was hired as the featured vocalist for The Count Basie Orchestra, a position she held for nine years. William “Count” Basie hired her himself, and Bradford’s creative collaboration with the Basie Orchestra remains active to this day.
Since then, she’s performed with a who’s who of jazz and popular music—from Wynton Marsalis and Doc Severinsen to James Brown and Tony Bennett. With an extensive live performance history and a discography that includes several albums, Carmen Sings Carmen is special to her because it is the first big band album not recorded with the Basie band.
“I recorded this as myself. I did me, but always with Carmen McRae in mind because I love her,” Bradford said. “But paying tribute to somebody like that is a lot of responsibility. It was not comfortable for me at first. A lot of pressure.”
That pressure existed because Bradford’s admiration for McRae runs deep. “I love that Carmen McRae tells a clear story every time she sings. It’s very visual to the listener. It’s so very deliberate. Every phrase, every note that she sings, everything is so intentional.”
In the album’s liner notes, Bradford reflects on McRae’s influence in a way that also speaks to her own journey.
“Carmen McRae’s kindness is something I will always cherish and carry with me, as it’s a reflection of the extraordinary human being she was, both on and off the stage.”
The album’s repertoire spans McRae’s career, from standards like “Sometimes I’m Happy” and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” to pop ballads like Leon Russell’s “A Song for You” and selections from McRae’s Carmen Sings Monk tribute. Bradford feels deeply that what her collaborators, especially Landry, allowed her to do with this album is truly a gift.
“Dana Landry allowed me to choose each of the songs, and he let me have the last word on the mix, mastering, and artwork for the cover.” she explained. “Between he and producer Jim White, it was such a pleasure and honor to be a part of something as special as this album.
As an educator, Carmen Bradford forms a bond with her students, encouraging them to take risks and think bigger, but more than anything she wants them to swing.
Bradford sent the arrangers several recordings so they could get comfortable with how she phrases, breathes, and how long she can hold a note. She also wanted everything written in the Basie tradition to ensure the arrangements would swing.
“These things are very important, and Dana allowed me to choose every step of the way,” she said. “The arrangers were so wonderfully accommodating. This was a love fest!”
The result is a recording that is gaining traction on jazz radio and generating buzz for Grammy consideration. It has risen on the Top 30 NACC Jazz Chart from number 18 to number 8, and it’s still climbing. But for Bradford, the project is also a teaching tool because as an associate professor of jazz voice at MSU, she sees her role as both mentor and motivator.
“I’m trying to introduce independence to them, taking a risk, and thinking bigger when it comes to their dreams, what they really want to do at the heart of their spirit,” she said.
Bradford’s teaching emphasizes individuality and swing. It is a slightly different focus than some other jazz voice programs.
“The difference is that I focus on swinging. That’s the bottom line for me, and it’s of the utmost importance,” she said. “Are they storytellers? Do they know how to phrase? Because that’s everything.”
