Helen Merrill arrives, remastered direct to DSD by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio, showing off an engaging debut on Hybrid Mono SACD. Merrill was born in New York City on July 21, 1930. Her professional career began at the age of 15 when, after singing at theatres and winning amateur contests, she landed a job as vocalist with Reggie Charles' Band. Merrill made her recording debut in 1952 when she sang "A Cigarette for Company" with the Earl Hines Band; the song was released on the D'Oro label, created specifically to record Hines' band with Merrill. The session was also notable for including vocalist Etta Jones, who was in Hines' band at the time. Merrill was later signed by Mercury Records to their EmArcy label. Helen Merrill is her debut studio album, backed by among others, trumpeter Clifford Brown and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford. The legendary Quincy Jones produced and arranged the album when he was just 21-years-old!
Musicians:
Helen Merrill - vocals
Clifford Brown - trumpet
Danny Banks - flute
Barry Galbraith - guitar
Jimmy Jones - piano
Milt Hinton - bass
Oscar Pettiford - bass on "What's New", "Falling in Love with Love" and "Yesterdays"
Osie Johnson - drums
Bobby Donaldson - drums on "What's New", "Falling in Love with Love" and "Yesterdays"
