Thelma Gracen & Milli Vernon - Thelma Gracen / Introducing Milli Vernon (1955/2019)

Just where the boundary lies between the singer of popular songs and the real jazz singer is very often difficult to delineate. Thelma Gracen s name may not ring any bells for neither jazz fan nor pop addict, but don t let that deter you. After enjoying a few of her songs, you will realize that she had what it takes to be not only a good singer, but a good jazz singer. She has the beat, the feeling, and that special inner understanding of a lyric that can make an indifferent song sound good, a good song sound great, and a great song sound the way it was meant to sound.

Before this recording session, Jazz singer Milli Vernon was virtually unknown, and for good reason. She had served her apprenticeship singing with various bands under the name Pat Cameron, and on club dates in the New York area for about six years. Her voice was pretty and expressive, and she had a strong sense of time, good intonation and a kind of flexible, intimate quality to her voice that makes her sound like no other. For her first album, Milli was backed beautifully by Dave McKenna, Jimmy Raney, Wyatt Ruther, Jo Jones, and on all but three of the tracks by Ruby Braff as well, in a collection of seldom recorded tunes which include Artie Shaws s moody Moon Ray.