Carmel

Formed in Manchester during 1981, the UK trio Carmel brought together vocalist Carmel McCourt (born 24 November 1958 in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England) with two ex-members of Bee Vamp: double bassist Jim Parris (born 13 January 1957 in Finchley, London, England) and drummer-percussionist Gerry Darby (born 13 October 1959 in Finchley, London, England). Their 1982 independent Red Flame single “Storm” and accompanying mini-album earned immediate acclaim for the fierce intensity shared by all three musicians. Parris and Darby generated the sonic density of a larger band behind McCourt’s commanding voice, moving fluidly among soulful ballads, gospel, blues, and stomping jazz. The standout reading of “Tracks Of My Tears” carried such assurance that listeners might have mistaken it for an original rather than a fresh take on the Smokey Robinson classic.

An appearance at the 1983 ICA Rock Week prompted the group’s signing to London Records, while a capacity run at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club solidified their place inside Britain’s emerging new jazz/pop circuit. Press emphasis on the jazz angle unfortunately fixed McCourt with an unintended Billie Holiday persona that later transferred to her future rival, Sade. Commercial breakthrough arrived that August when the gospel-tinged single “Bad Day,” featuring Attractions keyboardist Steve Nieve plus the soaring backing vocals of Helen Watson and Rush Winters, climbed to number 15 on the UK singles chart. Serge Clerc’s artwork captured the singer’s 1950s jazz-club aesthetic on that release and on the follow-ups “Willow Weep For Me,” February 1984’s number-23 hit “More, More, More,” and the album The Drum Is Everything. Although the LP reached number 19, it did not fully transmit the spark of the singles or the earlier Red Flame recordings.

As the jazz trend waned at home, Carmel discovered a warmer reception across Europe, especially in France. The subsequent album The Falling marked the trio’s strongest studio achievement to date, shaped by several producers that included Brian Eno and Hugh Johns. Later releases revealed growing maturity through original material such as “Easy For You,” “Nothing Good,” “Napoli,” and “I’m Over You.” Their longstanding flair for inventive covers surfaced again in treatments of Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” the Charles Dawes and Carl Sigman composition “It’s All In The Game” (a hit for Tommy Edwards), and Duke Ellington’s “Azure.” Despite limited mainstream traction in Britain, the group retained critical and audience esteem and performed with equal facility in intimate jazz venues or larger halls. After more than a decade with London Records, Carmel departed in 1991 and joined EastWest the following year. Two unremarkable major-label albums appeared in the mid-1990s, yet the band continued to thrive onstage, a quality preserved on the live recordings issued by Musidisc and Indigo.