The Quality of Mercer: Johnny Mercer Songs with Maud Hixson & Rick Carlson

Songs from the Great American Songbook

Celebrating Johnny Mercer, the songwriter, radio personality and vocalist from Savannah, Georgia. He wrote over 1,500 songs, co-founded Capitol Records, wrote for over 100 movies and won four “Best Song” Academy Awards. You’ll hear some of the most enduring standards, such as “Blues In The Night”, “Come Rain Or Come Shine”, and “That Old Black Magic”.

Maud Hixson: Vocals

Rick Carlson: Piano

Hailed as “gently virtuosic” (All About Jazz), Maud Hixson is a devoted exponent of great songs, ranging from the classic Great American Songbook to the often unsung or forgotten compositions awaiting rediscovery. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Maud made her Guthrie Theater debut in the Noel Coward revue Coward’s Women, also appearing in Park Square Theater’s The Soul of Gershwin. Her newest recording is devoted to the music of her mentor, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, which earned a 2024 Bistro Award. Rick Carlson taught himself to play the piano by studying the vast works of Count Basie and Duke Ellington and capitalizing on a long string of happy accidents. He has been the pianist for the Wolverines Big Band since 1980.

“Her vocal style is so warm, intimate and compelling–it’s clear that she cares about the words and telling the story, with clarity and without artifice–practically a lost art these days.” –Michael Feinstein

www.maudhixson.com