Search - Helen Merrill, Clifford Brown :: Helen Merrill & Clifford Brown

Fresh sounding debut that sounds like it could have been rec

M. Cryer | Denver, CO United States | 03/18/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you don't buy another album this year, please buy this one! Helen Merrill's debut album with Clifford Brown is nothing short of amazing.



Fifty-two seconds into Don't Explain you'll hear a note that is just so sexy and warm you will play that track over and over again. It took me 3 times before I could move past that part. I don't think I've ever heard a jazz vocalist(especially one as young as her) get so much life out of each and every note. Nothing is wasted and nothing is taken for granted.



You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To is another excellent arrangement; it's evident by listening to this album that Helen really learned to get into these tunes and bring them out in the most beautiful way possible.



'S Wonderful initially reminded of Anita O'Day's version but this one by Helen easily stands on it's own and goes just as quick!



Yesterdays is nothing short of amazing. Give it a listen.



Clifford Brown(almost forgot about him lol...) plays excellent solos throughout. Highly recommended."

Natural, unforced singing of the highest order, by a singer

German Artist | California | 04/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is in response to the negative review of Yair Sadeh -



I know his review must be a shock to the Jazz community, but I wanted to tell you my own personal experience with the "Helen Merrill" album. I bought it on 8 May 1995 ( I always write the date of purchase in the liner notes), listened to it once, and never again, for the reasons Yair Sadeh states in his (too brief) review. I was disappointed with this album, because I'd been listening a lot to "Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown", or "The Intimate Ella", an exceellent album, or "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook" and most other albums by these singers, or Billie Holiday, whom I adore. Compared to these favorite singers, Helen Merrill just left me cold, even though I loved, as always, Clifford Brown's contribution.



HOWEVER, 15 years later I'm rediscovering my Jazz collection, aside from Ella and Billie, and Miles and Coltrane, and suddenly "Helen Merrill With Clifford Brown" rose to the very top and is now one of my very favorite albums of my collection.



I think when I first listened to "Helen Merrill", in 1995, I made the big mistake of playing it in broad, sunny daylight, in my bright painting studio, where I had been enjoying all of the above Jazz singers and players. In comparison, at first glance, Helen Merrill seemed emotionless, watered down, amateurish. I now realize I was VERY WRONG. I misunderstood her.



I think, the album "Helen Merrill" is best played late at night, when the lights are dim, and everything else is quiet, when I'm the only person left awake in the house. That's when this album sounds ideal, intimate, and refreshing. Now I find Helen Merrill's voice lovely, and airy, and she allows any emotion in me, and I enjoy her unique, and unobtrusive personality and faultless taste. This is why I never get tired of listening to her on this album, every night. I find it a most rewarding experience.



Compared to Helen Merrill's album, I now find the (excellent) album "Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown" somewhat harder to digest. I still very much enjoy listening to it. Sarah Vaughan has one of the most beautiful, breathtaking voices, but at one point a few years ago, it occurred to me, that Sarah Vaughan sounds kind of vain, and self indulgent, and in some moments her voice goes from kind of playful-innocent and child-like to worldly and alluringly passionate, all within a second. These quicksilver mood changes can get a bit too rich - whereas Ella Fitzgerald always sounds natural, and humble and fresh, and I always welcome Ella's singing in my home, no matter what mood I'm in. Listening to the ravishing voice of Sarah Vaughan is like eating a very rich, expensive dessert. It is paradise, but I can only take so much of it. I understand that she's using her voice like a musical instrument, which, because of the connotations of the lyrics is much harder to manage than the abstract nature of music alone.



In contrast, Helen Merrill's voice is fresh, soothing, like a gentle evening breeze. Helen Merrill here also sometimes sounds child-like and innocent, other times knowing, and sad, and hopeless and disappointed, but she does it all in a way that is totally unforced and natural. It is real life taking place.



I highly recommend "Helen Merrill" with Clifford Brown. The recording quality couldn't be better, very clear and life like. It feels as if she were right in your living room, very close to you, singing for you. And I recommend that if you listen to the album for the first time, maybe do it at night, when it's dark outside, and quiet, and you're receptive to her subtlety.



Despite of what I said, I also highly recommend the excellent "Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown" - the second remastering from 2000 sounds fantastic. I think I just heard it so much in the past 17 years, that I find the "Helen Merrill" album a welcome refreshment."