Brad Posted January 22, 2005 Report Posted January 22, 2005 On Wednesday night when I was driving home, WKCR played an interview that Schapp did with Helen Merrill from a few years ago during a Clifford Brown birthday broadcast. She got a last chance to talk and reminesce about the sessions with Brownie and I had never heard her talk before but she seemed like a person with a lot to say. She said that she didn't remember a lot of details because she was so nervous about the sessions but under some prodding from Schapp a lot of details came back to her. She sounded like a very interesting person and they played some of the music and she has a very beautiful voice. I've listened to the Brownie box but never really noticed before what a nice voice she had. Quote
sidewinder Posted January 22, 2005 Report Posted January 22, 2005 Loads of big-time Helen Merrill fans here amongst the site membership ! Quote
jazzbo Posted January 22, 2005 Report Posted January 22, 2005 Yes I've become a tremendous fan of Helen's. . . one real problem is that a lot of her very best works are just so hard to get! But I invite you to explore her work Brad, she's a unique talent . . . her interpretations of songs are both beautiful and deep. I have three Helen's I really love to hear in my life: my first love who became my wife, Helen Elizabeth Haggerty, Helen Folesade Adu, and Helen Merrill. Two of them can really sing! Quote
Brad Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Posted January 22, 2005 (edited) Besides her singing, I just loved the way she talked about the sessions and about singing and jazz in general. Any recommendations, by the way? Edited January 22, 2005 by Brad Quote
jazzbo Posted January 22, 2005 Report Posted January 22, 2005 You've got the session with Brownie, right? In some ways I view the CENTER of her work to be the albums with Dick Katz that Gitanes reissued in the last four or five years. . . try to find Chasin' the Bird, A Shade of Difference or The Feeling is Mutual. . . . Quote
JSngry Posted January 22, 2005 Report Posted January 22, 2005 The British magazine Jazz Journal International did a very nice interview with her somewhere in the early 1990s. I remember it as being very articulate and insightful. Might be worth hunting down. Quote
DrJ Posted January 23, 2005 Report Posted January 23, 2005 I would agree with Lon's assessment -those Katz collaborations represent a pinnacle of Merrill's artistry and of jazz singing in general. I also think her run on the Emarcy and affiliated Universal labels in the 80s through now has been pretty fantastic, too. Quote
Brad Posted January 23, 2005 Author Report Posted January 23, 2005 You've got the session with Brownie, right? In some ways I view the CENTER of her work to be the albums with Dick Katz that Gitanes reissued in the last four or five years. . . try to find Chasin' the Bird, A Shade of Difference or The Feeling is Mutual. . . . Thanks Lon. I've got a line on the one with Dick Katz and will look for the others. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.