Helen O'connel

Helen Shapiro is remembered today by younger pop culture buffs as the slightly awkward actress/singer in Richard Lester's 1962 debut feature film, It's Trad, Dad. From 1961 until 1963, however, Shapiro was England's teenage pop music queen, at one point selling 40,000 copies daily of her biggest single, "Walking Back to Happiness," during a 19-week chart run. A deceptively young 14 when she was discovered, Shapiro had a rich, expressive voice properly sounding like the property of someone twice as old, and she matured into a seasoned professional very quickly.

As the title implies, this concentrates on Shapiro's less celebrated recordings, including 13 songs from her 1963 Helen's Sixteen LP, and a bunch of non-hit singles from 1965 and 1966. For the rock-oriented listener's taste at any rate, the later tunes are by far the most satisfying; Shapiro's voice remains in great shape, and tracks like "Forget About the Bad Things," "Empy House," and the self-penned "Wait a Little Longer" are far more sophisticated and soulful than her early teenage efforts. The earlier sides on the CD are dated standards and early '60s MOR British pop, not quite redeemed by Shapiro's perennially confident vocals.

A gaping hole in the flute repertoire opened during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was not until the genial Theobald Boehm carried through his technical improvements on the transverse flute, formerly imperfect but now endowed with radiant sound, that this instrument once again was able to interest composers. The FlautoPiano Duo with Helen Dabringhaus and Fil Liotis surprises us with a program brimming with wit and virtuoso lightness and featuring none other than Ludwig van Beethoven.

Wonderful Mozart songs with Ann-Helen Moen and Liv Glaser! Written for performance in private contexts - by and with music-loving friends. The sound of the time-typical hammer piano forms the framework for a beautiful musical experience with two of our foremost Mozart interpreters.

Helen Humes had not recorded as a leader in seven years when she made the first of three albums for Contemporary, all of which have been reissued on CD via the OJC imprint. Humes, 45 at the time, was at the peak of her powers, although she never really made a bad record. Accompanied by Benny Carter (on trumpet), trombonist Frank Rosolino, tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards, pianist Andrew Previn, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and either Shelly Manne or Mel Lewis on drums, the singer is typically enthusiastic, exuberant, and highly appealing on such numbers as "You Can Depend on Me," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," and "''Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do." She even sings credible versions of "Bill Bailey" and "When the Saints Go Marching In" on this easily recommended CD.

This second installment in the excellent Classics Helen Humes chronology covers the exciting material she recorded for the Philo (soon to become Aladdin), Black & White, and Mercury labels, first with her All-Stars in Los Angeles during 1945-1946 and then with Buck Clayton's band in New York in 1946 and 1947. Alternating between ballads, blues, and boogie-woogie, the singer exudes a wonderful passionate glow that sometimes borders on the sensual. The front lines of her West Coast bands were richly staffed with excellent players in trumpeter Snooky Young and saxophonists Willie Smith, Tom Archia, Corky Corcoran, Maxwell Davis, Wild Bill Moore, and - fresh out of the Army - Lester Young…

Although Helen Merrill is often thought of as a singer from the 1950s (when she made her initial reputation), she has stayed aware of more recent developments in jazz. On this superior CD, Merrill is accompanied by pianist Roger Kellaway, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Terry Clarke; three songs add trumpeter Tom Harrell, while two others have Wayne Shorter on tenor or soprano. Whether performing veteran standards (such as "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" and "Some of These Days") or more modern pieces, Merrill's haunting voice and her all-star sidemen uplift and revitalize the material. A consistently memorable set full of subtle surprises.

The last two years of the '40s saw Helen Humes growing considerably as a performer. While still showing her mastery of classic blues ("Married Man Blues") and high-octane swing (a frenetic live version of her previous hit, "Be-Baba-Leba"), she continued refining the type of blue-and-sentimental ballads she'd made famous during her Count Basie years (also the type of song that would carry her through the '50s). "Time Out for Tears" and "Don't Fall in Love With Me" find Humes reaching out to the trad-pop audience, and her version of "Somebody Loves Me" shows her finding the blues even in a Gershwin standard. As if her range wasn't stunning already, 1948-1950 also includes a splendid one-shot, a title called "I Ain't in the Mood" that sounds like it came straight from the Sun studio.