The Nearness of You is the fifth studio album by Helen Merrill.[1] It includes performances of standards from two sessions with completely different lineups of accompanying musicians. The later session from February 21, 1958, features very notable jazz performers such as pianist Bill Evans and bassist Oscar Pettiford.
John Bush of AllMusic said that "[a]lternately breathy and atmospheric or bright and dynamic, Helen Merrill often reaches a bit too far on The Nearness of You, though her distinct style and strong personality may be refreshing to vocal fans tired of the standard versions of standards. ... Her powerful voice occasionally gets her into trouble, breaking from breathy to brash and often occupying a rather awkward middle ground."[1] The Bill Evans biographer Peter Pettinger wrote of the session featuring the pianist, "Merrill, enticingly warm, molded the intensity of her tone like a horn, coloring her line with a tastefully controlled vibrato." He also quotes Merrill herself as saying, "Bill was a wonderful accompanist. But is that any wonder since he was so very sensitive and endlessly musical?"[3]
^Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 138. ISBN0-394-72643-X.
^Peter Pettinger, Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings, Yale University Press, 1998, p. 47.
^"Sleeve and discographies list [George] Russell [the composer and arranger] on guitar, but he [Russell] assures me [Peter Pettinger] that the guitarist [on Helen Merrill's The Nearness of You] was Barry Galbraith, whom he always used in his writing." Pettinger, p. 47.
^"Helen Merrill had asked George Russell to do the arrangements, which remained uncredited." Pettinger, p. 47.
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