1980 · Album
I'm Coming Home Again
Recorded Late 1970s · Buddah Records · Produced by Vic Cirumbolo
Carmen McRae Coming Back Strong
A double album that gives McRae room to stretch, and she uses every inch of it.
By 1980, Carmen McRae had been recording for decades and had nothing left to prove. So when she made I'm Coming Home Again (1980) for Buddah Records, it felt less like a career statement and more like a singer settling into what she does best — interpreting songs with intelligence, control, and a dry wit that most vocalists never develop at all. The title alone signals something relaxed and confident, not a comeback so much as a return on her own terms.
The album runs long, as double albums do, and producer Vic Cirumbolo gives it a polished, late-seventies feel. Arrangements by Mario Sprouse and Terri Gonzalez keep things smooth without turning the whole thing into soft-focus background music. McRae's voice had deepened and roughened by this point, which actually works in her favor — she sounds like someone who has lived inside these songs rather than just learned them. The phrasing is deliberate, the timing unhurried. She knows exactly when to land a word and when to let it drift.
The fact that Buddah later repackaged selected tracks as Ms. Magic tells you something — there was strong enough material here to build a separate release around. For listeners coming to McRae fresh, this is not the first place to start; something earlier in her catalog might hook you faster. But if you already know her and want to hear what she sounds like with space and time and a full production behind her, this album delivers. It is a solid, enjoyable record from a singer who understood what she was doing every single time she stepped up to a microphone.
