In February 1958, singer Helen Merrill recorded five songs backed by Bill Evans, who was part of a superb quintet for the session. The tracks would be their only studio recordings together. In May, Evans would move on to the Miles Davis Quintet and Sextet, and then form his own trio at year's end. Helen would spend 1958 and '59 recording jazz albums and touring before moving to Italy, where she'd spend the next four years.
Helen and Evans were close friends. During their early years in the mid-1950s, they became each other's support system, spending time on the phone consoling each other and offering each other professional and personal advice and encouragement. As Helen told me in 2009:
I was there for Bill when he needed to talk. He called me the night Miles asked him to join his group in '58. Bill said, "Helen, do you really think I'm good enough? Do you think I'm good enough to play with Miles?" I said, "Of course." Bill knew he was great, but he needed the encouragement. I was very touched by what he asked me, and I knew exactly how he felt. It was a big move for him. Even when you know you can do something, you want to hear it from someone who feels the way you do, someone who understands what you're going through inside.
The five tracks recorded that February with Evans completed Helen's The Nearness of You album for Emarcy Records. The first session was recorded in December 1957, with Mike Simpson (fl,cl,ts), Dick Marx (p), Fred Rundquist (g), Johnny Frigo (b) and Jerry Slosberg (d).
My guess is that by the time the follow-up studio date came up in February, the earlier musicians were busy with other projects. So producer Bob Shad pulled together a different quintet with a similar sensitive and hip sound. He chose Bobby Jaspar (fl) (above), Bill Evans (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d).
What a stunning group. Evans is glorious on all of the tracks, as are the other stellar musicians. According to Peter Pettinger's biography, Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings, the arrangements were by George Russell. Helen and the quintet recorded Let Me Love You, When the Sun Comes Out, All of You, The Nearness of You and Just Imagine, a 1930 song by Buddy De Sylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson for a movie of the same name.
Evans's intros and solos are soft and luxuriant. His brief solos are on All of You and The Nearness of You. On Just Imagine, he has a warm intro. If only the Bill Evans Trio had accompanied Helen on an album in 1959. [Press photo above of Bill Evans courtesy of eBay]
Helen's voice never succumbs to pretension. She falls completely into a song and her commitment is complete. There's a bruised coyness about her delivery, combining a breathless innocence with confident power. I miss chatting with Helen. [Photo above courtesy of Helen Merrill]
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Helen Merrill's The Nearness of You here or on the Complete Helen Merrill on Mercury here.
JazzWax clips: Here are the five songs Helen Merrill recorded with Bill Evans:
Here's Let Me Love You...
Here's When the Sun Comes Out...
Here's All of You...
Here's The Nearness of You...
And here's Just Imagine. Listen to the absolute perfection of Evans's piano and Helen's voice on the long intro. It's as if Evans takes her hand and leads her into the song's forest...
