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One thing that set Helen Merrill apart from other '50s jazz singers was her acutely dramatic vocal style. Her earnest phrasing, elongated notes, and incandescent tone might even strike the contemporary listener as qualities more appropriate for the Broadway stage than a jazz club. On 1955's Dream of You, though, Merrill found reconciliation, sounding both melodramatic and swinging within Gil Evans' darkly spacious, yet economical arrangements. Suitably, torchy ballads are prominent. On the somewhat grandiose side there's "Where Flamingos Fly" and "I'm a Fool to Want You," which find Merrill in a pensive mood amidst a variety of tempo and timbre shifts. More subdued ground is covered on "I've Never Seen" and "He Was Too Good to Me." Briskly swinging numbers like "People Will Say We're in Love," "By Myself," and "You're Lucky to Me" balance the program and feature the demure, yet fluid delivery Merrill favored on fast numbers. What is most impressive on this date is a group of sultry, medium tempo numbers including "Anyplace I Lay My Hat Is Home," "Just a Lucky So and So," and in particular "A New Town Is a Blue Town." The programmatic quality of Merrill's coyly sensual voice and Evans' slightly askew, bubbling reeds and languid rhythm conjure up dramatic, balmy southern scenes á la Tennessee Williams. In the picturesque arrangements one also hears the seeds of Evans' own future collaborations with Miles Davis. Even though her collaborations with Clifford Brown and others are great recordings, this one with Gil Evans shows off more of Merrill's expressive vocal talents, due in no small part to the sympathetic and urbane arrangements.
© Stephen Cook /TiVo
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Joe Morello, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Jimmy Cleveland, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Richard Rodgers, ComposerLyricist - Oscar Pettiford, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Oscar Hammerstein II , ComposerLyricist - Art Farmer, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Bob Shad, Producer - Helen Merrill, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Joe Morello, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Jimmy Cleveland, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Oscar Pettiford, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Art Farmer, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Howard Dietz, ComposerLyricist - Arthur Schwartz, ComposerLyricist - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Johnny Mercer, ComposerLyricist - Harold Arlen, ComposerLyricist - Helen Merrill, MainArtist
℗ 1956 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist - Marcotte, ComposerLyricist - D. Cockran, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Richard Rodgers, ComposerLyricist - Lorenz Hart, Author - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Danny Banks, Bari Sax, AssociatedPerformer - Richard Adler , ComposerLyricist - Jerome Richardson, Flute, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - JERRY ROSS, ComposerLyricist - Helen Merrill, MainArtist - Joe Bennett, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - John Laporta, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Joe Morello, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Jimmy Cleveland, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Oscar Pettiford, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Art Farmer, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist - James Hubert Blake, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
John Brooks, ComposerLyricist - Danny Banks, Bari Sax, AssociatedPerformer - Elthea Peale, ComposerLyricist - Jerome Richardson, Flute, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist - Harold Courlandar, ComposerLyricist - Joe Bennett, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - John Laporta, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Sy Oliver, ComposerLyricist - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist
℗ 1956 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Oscar Pettiford, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Frank Sinatra, ComposerLyricist - Jack Wolf, ComposerLyricist - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist - Joel S. Herron, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1978 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Danny Banks, Bari Sax, AssociatedPerformer - Duke Ellington, Composer - Mack David, ComposerLyricist - Jerome Richardson, Flute, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist - Joe Bennett, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - John Laporta, Alto Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Arthur Johnston, ComposerLyricist - Sam Coslow, ComposerLyricist - Hank Jones, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Gil Evans, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Barry Galbraith, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Helen Merrill, MainArtist
℗ 1956 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
One thing that set Helen Merrill apart from other '50s jazz singers was her acutely dramatic vocal style. Her earnest phrasing, elongated notes, and incandescent tone might even strike the contemporary listener as qualities more appropriate for the Broadway stage than a jazz club. On 1955's Dream of You, though, Merrill found reconciliation, sounding both melodramatic and swinging within Gil Evans' darkly spacious, yet economical arrangements. Suitably, torchy ballads are prominent. On the somewhat grandiose side there's "Where Flamingos Fly" and "I'm a Fool to Want You," which find Merrill in a pensive mood amidst a variety of tempo and timbre shifts. More subdued ground is covered on "I've Never Seen" and "He Was Too Good to Me." Briskly swinging numbers like "People Will Say We're in Love," "By Myself," and "You're Lucky to Me" balance the program and feature the demure, yet fluid delivery Merrill favored on fast numbers. What is most impressive on this date is a group of sultry, medium tempo numbers including "Anyplace I Lay My Hat Is Home," "Just a Lucky So and So," and in particular "A New Town Is a Blue Town." The programmatic quality of Merrill's coyly sensual voice and Evans' slightly askew, bubbling reeds and languid rhythm conjure up dramatic, balmy southern scenes á la Tennessee Williams. In the picturesque arrangements one also hears the seeds of Evans' own future collaborations with Miles Davis. Even though her collaborations with Clifford Brown and others are great recordings, this one with Gil Evans shows off more of Merrill's expressive vocal talents, due in no small part to the sympathetic and urbane arrangements.
© Stephen Cook /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:39:35
- Main artists: Helen Merrill
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Verve Reissues
- Genre: Jazz
© 2006 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 1956 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
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