Helen Merrill

Featuring: Art Farmer (tp), Jimmy Cleveland (tb), Jerome Richardson (fl, ts), Hank Jones (p, cel), Oscar Pettiford (b), Joe Morello (d). Orchestras arranged and conducted by Gil Evans and Hal Mooney.

Helen Merrill’s vocal tone was always warm and husky. She developed from an apprehensive, untried singer, wanting to be accepted, into a calm and competent performer who could use her voice as an instrument of mood.
Dream of You (#1-12) was one of her best albums and an arranging triumph for Gil Evans, who did all the scoring and conducting. Evans, an extraordinarily sensitive and supple colorist, wrote with particular care for the contours (linear and emotional) of each song, as well as a measured understanding of Helen’s texture and phrasing. The second album included here, At Midnight (#13-22), was recorded six months after the first one, and was another smash hit for Helen. This time the backgrounds were tailored to her own approach by Harold "Hal" Mooney.
For this collection, she harvested some of the better bits of romantic poetry that existed in wisps among the voluminous Tin Pan Alley melodies.

Personnel: Art Farmer (tp), Jimmy Buffington (frh), Joe Bennett, Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rehak (tb), Tom Mitchell (btb), John LaPorta (cl, as), Jerome Richardson (fl, ts), Danny Bank (fl, bcl, bars), Romeo Penque (fl, cl, oboe), Phil Bodner (fl, oboe), Hank Jones (p, cel), Buddy Weed, Marian McPartland (p), Barry Galbraith, Billy Mure (g), Oscar Pettiford, Milt Hinton (b), Joe Morello, Sol Gubin (d)

Track list:

01. People Will Say We’re In Love 2:38
02. By Myself 3:26
03. Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home 4:13
04. I’ve Never Seen 3:36
05. He Was Too Good To Me 3:05
06. A New Town Is A Blue Town 3:12
07. You’re Lucky To Me 3:29
08. Where Flamingos Fly 2:48
09. Dream Of You 2:56
10. I’m Fool To Want You 4:09
11. I’m Just A Lucky So And So 3:11
12. Troubled Waters 3:16
13. Soft As Spring 3:17
14. Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair 2:54
15. Lazy Afternoon 3:10
16. The Things We Did Last Summer 3:08
17. After You, Who? 3:06
18. If You Go 3:14
19. If I Forget You 3:23
20. If Love Were All 3:00
21. Easy Come Easy Go 3:46
22. I’ll Be Around 2:46

Recorded in New York (1956-1957)