Helen Merrill

Latest discovery: Helen Merrill (self-titled), 1954

If you look up the greatest female jazz vocalists, chances are Helen Merrill will not show up the top ten. How can a Croatian girl from NYC compete with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Jones, and Nina Simone? She can't really. Their sound is raw and oftentimes visceral - imbued with the experiences of growing up black in a racially turbulent world, of struggles with drugs and alcohol, of losing everything...

Helen Merrill may be a graceful blond in classic-cut sensible clothes, but that never stopped her from creating a style - and a vocal mood - that's unique, evocative and equally full of longing.

This is her debut solo record. I find it particularly bewitching because of the warm, subdued quality of her voice. She may not be belting out her pain with bombast but the quietness of her voice reveals a passion that is just as devastating and beautiful.

My favourites are the  romantic You'd be so nice to come home to and the bare-naked Don't explain. I like the former because there's an underlying naughtiness that makes the occasionally raspy sound of Merrill's voice all the more playful. This was, after all, 1954... It was your husband that was supposed to come home to you, not the other way around.

She does not express any desire to spend the rest of her life with the You, and she certainly doesn't want to sit around and wait for You to come home. When I hear this song, I defnitely don't see Merrill preparing a roast and mixing a martini for her imminently-returning husband. I see Merrill stealing down  side street, her cloud of blond hair wrapped in a discreet scarf, her feet moving quickly across the pavement to meet her lover.

'Home' being the beloved, and not a geographical place.

I like "Don't explain" because of the paradox. The voice is so cool, the pace so lazy... and yet the emotions so torrid. If I could summarise, it would be this: "I don't care that you cheated on me, I don't care what anyone says, I don't care about your excuses, because I still love you. Now take off your pants."

Loosely summarised, of course.

To note, Helen Merrill's career has spanned six decades and she has performed with some of the most notable jazz performers. She even has a MySpace page.

Also, she's huge in Italy and Japan - where she is currently on tour.