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A rare Japanese session from vocalist Helen Merrill – one of a few key 60s recordings she cut on the Tokyo scene, after initial fame in the US! The album features a great small group arranged by drummer Takeshi Inomata, played by a combo that includes alto, baritone, and trumpet – all used in a cool and laidback mode that resonates nicely with Merrill’s more familiar 50s sides on Mercury – but which also stretches out more, too – not as “cool”, and with a sense of inflection that’s mighty nice. Helen’s in great form vocally – often singing in that almost-effortless mode that we love in her classic work – and titles include “It Never Entered My Mind”, “Bewitched”, “You Do Something To Me”, “Teach Me Tonight”, “Good Morning Heartache”, and “My Favorite Things”. © 1996-2025, Dusty Groove, Inc.

Track listing:

A1 Someday My Prince Will Come To Me  0:00
A2 It Never Entered My Mind  3:26
A3 Bewitched  8:09
A4 You Do Something To Me  11:10
A5 Teach Me Tonight  14:06
B1 I’m Fool To Want You  17:01
B2 My Favorite Things  21:08
B3 Good Morning Heartaches  23:10
B4 I Feel Pretty  27:18
B5 You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To  30:16

Personnel:

Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Shigeo Suzuki
Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Tadayuki Harada
Bass – Tatsuro Takimoto
Drums – Takeshi Inomata
Piano, Celesta – Norio Maeda
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Jiro Inagaki
Trumpet – Akira Nakano
Vocals – Helen Merrill

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Label: Paddle Wheel
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Country: Japan
Released: 1963
Recorded: 12-13 February 1963