Big BandThe Helen Merrill Dick Katz Sessions (MCD-1019)
Mosaic Singles
|
"This music says so much, particularly in revealing the warmth these musicians feel for each other, their interest in experimentation, and their love of their craft. In their choice of fine songs, performed in new and different settings, they invite you to become involved. Listen, and you will understand and appreciate the shade of difference here." - Marian McPartland, liner notes |
In the '40s, Helen Merrill entered the professional ranks as a band singer, but soon was bitten by the be-bop bug sitting in with Charlie Parker and Bud Powell among others. Her warm, smoky, expressive voice and delivery were cool and intimate, perfect for the new era. In the '50s, she made seminal sides for Emarcy including sessions with Clifford Brown and Gil Evans.
By the end of the '50s with her sound fell out of fashion, she moved to Rome (no tears of sympathy, please) where she continued to prosper internationally. Upon her return, she formed an alliance with the versatile pianist Dick Katz who was the pianist , arranger and producer of two of the greatest albums Merrill ever recorded.
Originally issued as The Feeling Is Mutual and A Shade Of Difference on the Milestone label, these '60s albums feature a core group of Thad Jones, Katz, Jim Hall, Ron Carter and Pete LaRoca or Elvin Jones. The material matches the band with a superb, often obscure selection of standards by everyone from Richard Rodgers to Alec Wilder and jazz tunes that run that gamut from Ellington to Ornette Coleman.
These albums - milestones in her career and magnificent by any standard - are now available on one Mosaic CD.
Read More About Helen Merrill:
Track Listing, Personnel & Recording Dates »
Click here to write a review
 |
great Merrill, poor remastering |
| beautiful music, how unfortunate the poor remastering, noticeably inferior to previous CD re-releases | |
 |
Helen |
| Helen is singing with the immortals on this disc. Stunning accompaniment too. | |
 |
wonderful music... what about the masters? |
| This is jazz as good as it gets: the musicianship of the players, the inventiveness of the arrangements, and over everything else, THAT vocals... yet the masters indeed do not sound too pristine... which is so not the Mosaic treatment... It's also strange (and maybe revealing of a somewhat guilty conscience? ;-)) that absolutely no information is given about the source used for the reissue, or about the person in charge of the remastering... which is a first for Mosaic I think, and again so-not meeting the brand's standards. Great music though, as has been said. | |
 |
Merrill/Katz |
| The vocals and the band are continually amazing! This is jazz vocal music at its very best. The sound quality is ok. | |
|
Merrill again |
| I did pick up the Clifford Brown and Merrill CD. I have to say the Mosaic performance is better - a more consistent, mature singer. Also a singer and a band that takes risks all over the place and succeeds. Move over Anita O'Day. I should also say that Clifford Brown is excellent, but the band is fairly straight forward with not a lot of surprises. Overall it's without a doubt a recommended recording but the Merrill/Katz is a knockout. | |
|
uh uh uh |
| Likewise, over-enthusiastic people are usually people who haven't been given all the information.. and with a lot of time to waste, too, as it seems... | |
|
This Select |
| The sound isn't great, it's fairly good, but the vocals and band are fantastic! | |
|
Sad |
| Hey - Since you obviously have so much free time on your hands, why don't you build a web site dedicated to your private rants about the quality of this reissue and warn all the potential buyers to beware! Complainers are really just sad people with simply way too much time on their hands.... | |
|
THIS reissue is the problem we're talking about |
| It seems to me that the point here is the reissue itself, non the music. Of course the music is great. Fact is, the sound of THIS reissue is rather sloppy, if compared to the great sounding Polygram CD reissues. And since we know that the problem is not in the original masters, but simply in THIS remastering, I think fair that buyers should be warned that this music was previously reissued on cd with better results. What's so difficult to understand about this? | |
|
* |
| Get a life. | |
|
H. Merrill |
| I don't know what all the fuss is about. The CD sound quality is good, the vocals and bands are top notch and "modern" with interesting interaction between the players, and between the band and Merrill. I haven't listened to a lot of Helen Merrill but I will certainly be ordering more. Maybe the Clifford Brown & Merrill next. | |
|
yeah, whatever |
| maybe you should have listened to the french polygrams before talking about things you obviously don't know ;-) | |
|
What the...? |
| Wow dude below - get a grip on what REALLY matters - the MUSIC! Maybe you should consider employment at Audiophile Times magazine or something....jeez! | |
|
Well... not really... |
| The guy below obviously doesn't know what he's talking about, nor has ever heard the french Polygrams, which are, very simply, much cleaner (sonically speaking). And this is obvious to anyone who HAS actually heard them. Period. And it's not "sonic minutia", it's audio evidence, quite apparent to anyone with ears. Come to think about it... is someone at Mosaic writing these glowing reviews?... ;-) | |
|
Outstanding reissue!!! |
| I just received my copies of both Helen Merrill Mosaic sets and am blown away! The sonics on these are among Mosaic’s best to date. I can safely toss my ‘98 Polygram HDCD version, as I now have Helen singing a private concert for me right in my living room. Thanks Mosaic! | |
|
Pleasantly surprised.... |
| Being more a fan of jazz instrumentalists than vocalists, I decided to take a chance on this after reading the list of heavyweight contributors. I assumed I could always listen to them and block out the singer. The only Helen Merrill I have in my collection is her stuff with Clifford Brown as part of the complete Brownie recordings on Emarcy. I can't really say it made a big impression on me. Boy, was I delighted after listening to these reissues. The instrumentalists are all given equal weight as the singer, and the arrangements are astonishingly original. Some of the songs are dramatically reharmonized, but Merrill seems to have no trouble at all dealing with the novel arrngements. Most jazz singers would be scratching their heads. The lineup seems an oddball assortment, but they all play with taste and verve. I especially enjoy Jim Hall's inventive soloing, along with the wonderful solos of Thad. The band works well together and there is a lot of commitment here. But I was most pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy Merrill's understated and musicianly singing. She was obviously listening to the band and singing like an instrument, rather than just another jazz singer. This is high-caliber musicianship. The vocal version of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" is especially a stand out. Haunting is the first word that comes to mind. I didn't have any problems with the sound quality, as I'm not familiar with her work generally. I'm more interested in the music inside rather than the minutia. This would be a great start for those not familiar with Merill's work. As a sceptic of jazz singers by nature, I'd have to say that Merrill is a true musician rather than just another singer. And if you are a fan of Jim Hall, you're really going to like this. Jazzbojesus | |
|
Superb is the music... not the reissue |
| I've been a faithful Mosaic customer through many, many years. And this is the first time EVER I've been disappointed. The music is -of course- more than great; but the reissue is quite the opposite. The first alarm rang reading the liner notes: no info whatsoever on the remastering, no info on the reissue or the reissue producer, no info on the source used: in my long years of Mosaic experience, this is the first time I don't find reissue infos on a Mosaic item. Then the listening: the hiss, the crackles and the surface noise are sensibly more audible than on the previous 1998 french PolyGram HDCD-remastered reissue of the same albums, while clarity and dynamics of sound are more or less equivalent - certainly non improved. Same things apply (with less noise, perhaps being a more recent recording) to the other Merrill reissue (Casa forte). I love Mrs Merrill's music, and when I purchased this Mosaic disc I was certain I was upgrading my CD version. I wasn't prepared for a "downgrading"... and with no reissue info or explanation, as well. Since we're talking about Mosaic, all this is a bit alarming. Is it just a false step, or is Mosaic lowering its standards? This is the thing that bothers me the most. I'm sorry to write this about Mosaic, of all people, but I feel it's just honest to warn other Merrill fans who may, just like me, be disappointed with this purchase. | |
|
Superb. More please! |
| So much of Merrill is out of print. Please consider a complete Emarcy release, or whatever you can lay your hands on. | |
The Helen Merrill Dick Katz Sessions (MCD-1019)
Limited Edition: copies
1 CD - $15.00
