Helen Merrill - Youth and early career in the United States, Success abroad, Late career

Jazz singer, born in New York City, USA. She sang with the Earl Hines Sextet in 1952, and made a wide range of recordings during the following decade. Her albums include The Complete Helen Merrill on Mercury (1959), and The Artistry of Helen Merrill (1968).

Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy (where she lived for many years) as well as in her native United States.

Youth and early career in the United States

Merrill was born in 1930 to Croatian immigrant parents. In 1952, Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company"(original music and lyrics written by Fred Roth of Los Angeles), with the Earl Hines Band;

As a result exposure she received from "A Cigarette for Company" and two subsequent singles recorded for the Roost record label, Merrill was signed by Mercury Records for their new Emarcy label.

In 1954, Merrill recorded her first (and to date most acclaimed) LP, an eponymous record featuring legendary jazz trumpet player Clifford Brown and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford, among others.

Merrill's follow-up to Helen Merrill was the 1956 LP, Dream of You, which was produced and arranged by bebop arranger and pianist Gil Evans. His arrangements on Merrill's laid the musical foundations for his in following years with Miles Davis.

Success abroad

After recording sporadically through the late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent much of her time touring Europe, where she enjoyed more commercial success than she had in the United States. In addition to recording while in Japan, Merrill became involved in other aspects of the music industry, producing albums for Trio Records and hosting a show on a Tokyo radio station.

Late career

Merrill returned to the US in 1972 and has continued recording and regular touring since then. She has recorded a bossa nova album, a Christmas album and a record's worth of Rodgers and Hammerstein, among many others.

Two albums from Merrill's later career have been tributes to past musical partners. In 1987, Merrill and Gil Evans recorded fresh arrangements of their classic Dream of You;

One of Merrill's millennium released recordings draws from her Croatian heritage as well as her American upbringing. Jelena Ana Milcetic, also known as Helen Merrill (2000), combines jazz, pop and blues songs with several traditional Croatian songs sung in Croatian.
Helen Merrill has been married three times, first to musician Aaron Sachs, second time to UPI vice president Donald J Brydon, and third to arranger-conductor Torrie Zito.