Although she never gained the same kind of popularity as her colleagues Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, Helen Merrill is considered among jazz cognoscenti to be one of the best singers in the genre's history. The LP presented here, originally titled Helen Merrill, was her debut studio album. It showcases the singer backed by an all-star group that included the legendary trumpeter Clifford Brown. After Brown's tragic death in a car accident in 1956 at the age of 25, all recorded works of this instrumental genius became highly priced, and so Merrill's album would be successively reissued adding his name on the cover. Scott Yanow gave the LP a four-and-a-half star rating on All Music Guide, stating that, ''Every recording by the short-lived trumpeter Clifford Brown is worth exploring, including his date with Helen Merrill. Trumpeter Brown is joined by Danny Bank on flute, and a four-piece rhythm section including pianist Jimmy Jones and guitarist Barry Galbraith. Quincy Jones provided the arrangements. The music is essentially straight-ahead bop, yet the seven standards are uplifted by the presence of Merrill (in top form) and Brown.'' Merrill's first recordings consisted of a few songs made with the Earl Hines Sextet in December 1952, followed by a couple of tunes with Jimmy Raney in 1953. She would also record four tracks with an orchestra conducted by Johnny Richards in February 1954 prior to her participation on the justly celebrated dates with Clifford Brown (December 22 & 24, 1954). All of the arrangements for the album with Brown were made by Quincy Jones. In spite of her obvious talents, Merrill only gained greater fame after she started touring Europe. Traveling kept her career alive. After living in Italy for a while and returning to the States, she went to live in Japan in 1967, where she stayed for five years. Although she never recorded as prolifically as some of her best known colleagues, Merrill always had her own audiences all over the world and continued working well into the first years of the 21st Century. Her last album, titled Lilac Wine, was recorded in 2002. Born to Croatian parents in New York on July 21, 1930 (her birth name was actually Jelena Ana Milcetic), Helen Merrill is 86 years old at the time of this writing.
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