''Collaboration'' is a 1987 studio album by

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1929) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording ''Helen Merrill (album), Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown on EmArcy), was an immediate success and associat ...

, arranged by

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

. With the almost identical repertoire of recorded songs –though in another order– and following Evans' original scores it is a celebratory re-recording of their previous collaboration from 30 years ago for Merrill's album '' Dream of You'', released in 1957 also on

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cli ...

. The one exception is the opener, " Summertime" from ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'', that Evans recorded with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

in 1958, it replaces "You're Lucky to Me". Like ''Dream of You'' ''Collaboration'' was recorded on three consecutive recording sessions each with a different line-up, one with woodwinds and trombone for most songs, featuring soprano saxophonist

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

on two tracks, one session with brass and another with a string section and woodwind.

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

awarded the album four and a half stars and said "This inspired outing, one of the most rewarding sets of Helen Merrill's later years, was also one of Evans' last great dates and one of his few post-1972 classics. 57 at the time, Merrill is in superb form on such numbers as 'Where Flamingos Fly,' 'A New Town Is a Blue Town,' 'By Myself' and 'Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home.'" ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' described the album as "One of the strangest singer-and-orchestra records ever made", and highlighted the slow tempos, "barely moving textures" and "long, carefully held tones of the vocalist".

Track listing

# " Summertime" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

DuBose Heyward Edwin DuBose Heyward (August 31, 1885 – June 16, 1940) was an American author best known for his 1925 novel '' Porgy''. He and his wife Dorothy, a playwright, adapted it as a 1927 play of the same name. The couple worked with composer Georg ...

) – 4:27 # "Where Flamingos Fly" (

John Benson Brooks John Benson Brooks (February 23, 1917, in Houlton, Maine – November 13, 1999, in New York City) was an American jazz pianist, songwriter, arranger, and composer. Career Brooks worked early in his career as an arranger for Randy Brooks, Les B ...

Harold Courlander Harold Courlander (September 18, 1908 – March 15, 1996) was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist and an expert in the study of Haitian life. The author of 35 books and plays and numerous scholarly articles, Courlander speciali ...

, Elthea Peale) – 3:07 # "Dream of You" (

Sy Oliver Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader. Life Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. His mother was a piano teacher, and his f ...

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, ...

, Michael Morales) – 2:51 # "

I'm a Fool to Want You "I'm a Fool to Want You" is a 1951 song composed by Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf, and Joel Herron. Frank Sinatra co-wrote the lyrics and released the song as a Columbia Records single. The Sentimental ballad, ballad is considered a popular music, po ...

" (Joel Herron, Jack Wolf,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

) – 4:30 # "Troubled Waters" ( Arthur Johnston,

Sam Coslow Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...

) – 3:26 # " I'm Just a Lucky So and So" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

) – 3:09 # "

People Will Say We're in Love "People Will Say We're In Love" is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, ''Oklahoma!'' (1943). In the original Broadway production, the song was introduced by Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts. Plot context The other characters thin ...

" (

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...

) – 2:49 # " By Myself" (

Arthur Schwartz Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz. Biography Early life Schwartz was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New ...

Howard Dietz Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. According to historian Stanley Green, Dietz and Schwartz were "most cl ...

) – 3:38 # "

Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" is a popular song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was first introduced in 1946 in the musical '' St. Louis Woman''. In the musical, the song was sung by a female character of easy virtue, ...

" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

) – 4:55 # "I've Never Seen" (

Don Marcotte Donald Michel Marcotte (born April 15, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who served his entire National Hockey League career with the Boston Bruins and was noted as a premier defensive forward, while being versatile enough ...

) – 4:19 # "He Was Too Good to Me" (Rodgers,

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bo ...

) – 3:15 # "A New Town Is a Blue Town" ( Jerry Ross,

Richard Adler Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. He is best known for his work with Jerry Ross (composer), Jerry Ross on the musicals ''The Pajama Game'' (1954) a ...

) – 3:35

Personnel

– vocals *

– arranger, conductor The Gil Evans Orchestra ''Tracks 1, 2, 6, 9 and 12, session of August 25, 1987'' *

–

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

(as special guest on 1 and 9 only) *

Danny Bank Daniel Bernard Bank (July 17, 1922 – June 5, 2010) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist. He is credited on some releases as Danny Banks. Early life He was born on July 17, 1922. Professional career Early in his car ...

– flute,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

Phil Bodner Philip L. Bodner (June 13, 1917 – February 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist and studio musician who also played flute, oboe, saxophone, and English horn. Career A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Bodner worked as a studio musician ...

– flute,

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, pitched below the standard C flute and the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the piccolo. It is chara ...

, bass clarinet *

Jerry Dodgion Jerry Dodgion (August 29, 1932 – February 17, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist. Dodgion was born in Richmond, California. He played alto sax in middle school and began working locally in the San Francisco area ...

– flute, soprano saxophone *Chris Hunter – flute, clarinet,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

*Wally Kane – bass clarinet,

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

(except 12) *Roger Rosenberg – bass clarinet (12) *

Jimmy Knepper James Minter Knepper (November 22, 1927 – June 14, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist. In addition to his own recordings as leader, Knepper performed and recorded with Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Claude Thornhill, Stan Kenton, Benny Goo ...

–

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

Gil Goldstein Gil Goldstein (born November 6, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American jazz pianist and accordionist. He has won 5 Grammy Awards and he was nominated 8 times. Biography He began studying accordion at age 5 after noticing it in The Lawrence ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, keyboards *

Joe Beck Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 40 years. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opp ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Buster Williams Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, as well as working with guitarist Larry Coryell, the Thelonious Monk reperto ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

''Tracks 3, 7 and 8, session of August 26, 1987'' *

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944 – March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. He was a founding member of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studie ...

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Shunzo Ohno is a Japanese trumpeter, composer and arranger. In 1974 Ohno accepted Art Blakey's offer and went to the U.S. He made recordings in cooperation with famous musicians, and some of his songs sold very well. He played active parts as a member of M ...

– trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

*Jimmy Knepper – trombone * Dave Taylor –

bass trombone The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and u ...

*Chris Hunter – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone,

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

*Danny Bank –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

*Gil Goldstein – piano, keyboards *Joe Beck – guitar *Buster Williams – double bass *Mel Lewis – drums ''Tracks 4, 5, 10 and 11, session of August 18, 1987'' *String quintet **

Harry Lookofsky Harry William Lookofsky (1 October 1913 – 8 June 1998) was an American jazz violinist. He was also the father of keyboardist-songwriter Michael Brown, who most notably was a founding member of the Left Banke and Stories. Early life and fa ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, tenor violin **Lamar Alsop – viola, violin **Harold Coletta, Theodore Israel –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

**Jesse Levy –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

–

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

*Gil Goldstein – piano, keyboards *

Jay Berliner Jay Berliner (born May 24, 1940) is an American guitarist who has worked with Harry Belafonte, Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, and Van Morrison, among others. Career Berliner had his first television experience at age seven with his sister Eve on '' ...

– guitar *Buster Williams – double bass *Mel Lewis – drums Production *Kiyoshi "Boxman" Koyama, Helen Merrill – producers *Tom Lazarus – recording and mix engineer *Rebecca Everett – second engineer *

Dan Morgenstern Dan Michael Morgenstern (October 24, 1929 – September 7, 2024) was an American jazz historian and archivist. Born to a Jewish family in Germany, Morgenstern fled Nazi-occupied Austria with his mother and in 1947 emigrated to the United States ...

–

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

References

{{Authority control EmArcy Records albums Helen Merrill albums Albums arranged by Gil Evans 1986 collaborative albums