Helen Merrill & Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown, Helen Merrill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000046ND
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,283 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Jazz Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 2-JUN-1989

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand slam on first frip to the plate., July 3, 2000

By 

Elmo's Firetruck (Bush Country!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Helen Merrill & Clifford Brown (Audio CD)

I wasn't born when Helen Merill made this record on Christmas Eve some 45 years ago, but it's been in near constant rotation for me for almost 20 years. This is one of the truly GREAT vocal albums of all time--Helen Merrill has the kind of voice that should make just about every man go weak in the knees. Sure, she doesn't have the chops of Ella, Sarah or Billie, but her timing is on par with any of them and she can convey sadness and longing with the best of them(and it doesn't hurt on this recording to have Clifford Brown--among other heavyweights-- backing her up). These are the definitive performances of "You'd be so nice to come home to" and "Falling in Love with Love."

Unfortunately, Helen Merrill never really lived up to the promise of this album. A couple of pretty good records for Emarcy and another for MetroJazz from the mid-to-late 1950's are fine, but then she went into hiding in Italy for a while and resurfaced in Japan and made a few good records there. She's had a good career, but her first record is still her best (and one of the best jazz albums EVER in my opinion.)

ESSENTIAL!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars breathtaking, February 9, 2003

By 

z. Dolli. o "scorpiotype" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Helen Merrill & Clifford Brown (Audio CD)

I'm so glad I have this record. It's so refreshing to stumble accross a vocalist this unique. Her voice is so soft but strong. The mood of the album is so low key, deep, introspective. I wish more people my age were more willing to search for vocal artists as astonishing and unique as Helen Merrill.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First-class, April 15, 2003

By 

N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Helen Merrill & Clifford Brown (Audio CD)

This is a pretty astonishing debut for the young Merrill, and though she has recorded many fine albums (including her exceptional recent run for Verve/Gitanes) none quite touches this one. The arrangements are by Quincy Jones--hardly the calibre of Gil Evans, whom she brought in for her next album, but attractive nonetheless. Most importantly, Jones chose a light & spacious instrumentation that placed most of the emphasis on Clifford Brown's trumpet (who is the sole horn except for some discreet baritone & flute from Danny Banks), & he also was willing to grant Merrill the kind of achingly slow ballad tempos that can turn turgid & dull in the wrong hands but which are actually Merrill's forte. Only one track here--the last, "S'Wonderful"--is uptempo, & the rest ranges from medium ("You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to") to slow ("Born to Be Blue") to _really_ slow ("Yesterdays", "Don't Explain").

That sounds like a recipe for tedium (it would be with most singers), & yet the results are fascinating throughout, & sometimes have real raised-goosebumps power. Merrill's distinctive, almost vibratoless style--very breathy, somehow both guileless but smart, & without any distancing displays of virtuosity--is complemented by Clifford Brown's gentle but very precise (almost calligraphic) improvisations. These are some of the best of Brown's solos on record--the kind of thing that makes any aspiriing musician run to their instrument to start trying to lift it. Perhaps surprisingly, Brown's solo work here has the definite edge over his other notable recording with a vocalist, Sarah Vaughan.

Fans of this disc will want to search out Merrill's now out of print disc _Brownie_, in which she revisited much of the material from this disc, with an all-star trumpet ensemble playing arrangements of Brown's solos from this disc. It's a very affecting tribute, & is by no means a mere postscript to this disc. It's a pity, though, that while the later disc includes "Born to Be Blue", "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" & "Don't Explain", it doesn't include a version of "Yesterdays", which includes perhaps my favourite of Brown's features on the original recording (complete with its graceful allusions to "Parker's Mood").