The Bebop Shop Helen Merrill

The Bebop Shop : Body & Soul: Billie, Ella & The Great Jazz Voices : Helen Merrill


	Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown (CD: EmArcy- US Import) Every recording by the short-lived trumpeter Clifford Brown is worth exploring, including his three dates with singers Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and this CD reissue with Helen Merrill. Reissued as part of box sets headed by Brown and Merrill, the highly enjoyable Brown/Merrill sessions are also available as this single CD. Trumpeter Brown is joined by Danny Bank on baritone and flute, and a four-piece rhythm section including pianist Jimmy Jones and guitarist Barry Galbraith. Quincy Jones provided the arrangements. The music is essentially straight-ahead bop, yet the seven standards (which include "Don't Explain," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," and "Falling in Love With Love") are uplifted by the presence of Merrill (in top form) and Brown. (Verve Music Group) A BEBOP SHOP MILESTONE- An essential recording for your jazz CD shelf Price: £12.99


Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown (Vinyl LP: Wax Time) Limited edition 180 g vinyl, super fidelity audiophile pressing. Price: £17.99


	Helen Merrill: Dream Of You (CD: Fresh Sound) Helen Merrill’s vocal tone was always warm and husky. She developed from an apprehensive, untried singer, wanting to be accepted, into a calm and competent performer who could use her voice as an instrument of mood. Dream of You was one of her best albums and an arranging triumph for Gil Evans, who did all the scoring and conducting. Evans, an extraordinarily sensitive and supple colorist, wrote with particular care for the contours (linear and emotional) of each song, as well as a measured understanding of Helen’s texture and phrasing. The second album included here, At Midnight, was recorded six months after the first one, and was another smash hit for Helen. This time the backgrounds were tailored to her own approach by Harold “Hal” Mooney. For this collection, she harvested some of the better bits of romantic poetry that existed in wisps among the voluminous Tin Pan Alley melodies. (Absolute Distribution) Price: £11.99


Helen Merrill: The Nearness Of You/ You've Got A Date With The Blues (CD: Phoenix Jazz) The complete original LPs “The Nearness of You” (1958) and “You’ve Got a Date with the Blues” (1959), presenting vocalist Helen Merrill in splendid form backed by swinging combos, featuring Bill Evans, Kenny Dorham, Bobby Jaspar, Oscar Pettiford, Milt Hinton & Jo Jones. Although she was well-known among fellow musicians, Helen Merrill wasn’t a star like Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald or even Dinah Washington at the time these two albums were made. She only gained greater fame after she started touring Europe shortly after the two albums compiled here were made. (Discovery Records) Price: £10.99


	Helen Merrill: Music Makers (CD: Owl/ Universal) with Gordon Beck, Stephane Grappelli & Steve Lacy. Price: £9.99

The Bebop Shop : Body & Soul: Billie, Ella & The Great Jazz Voices : Helen Merrill

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