Helen Merrill was born on Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21,1929 and is an American jazz vocalist.
15 Facts About Helen Merrill
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Helen Merrill's first album, the eponymous 1954 recording Helen Merrill, was an immediate success and associated her with the first generation of bebop jazz musicians.
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Helen Merrill began singing in jazz clubs in the Bronx in 1944 when she was fourteen.
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In 1952, Helen Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company" with Earl Hines; the song was released on the D'Oro label, created specifically to record Hines' band with Helen Merrill.
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Helen Merrill was signed by Mercury Records to their EmArcy label.
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In 1954, Helen Merrill recorded an eponymous LP; her first issued album featured trumpeter Clifford Brown and bassist Oscar Pettiford.
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The success of Helen Merrill prompted Mercury to sign her for an additional four-album contract.
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Helen Merrill's follow-up' was the 1956 LP, Dream of You, which was arranged by arranger and pianist Gil Evans.
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Helen Merrill settled for a time in Italy, recording an album there and doing concerts with jazz musicians Piero Umiliani, Chet Baker, Romano Mussolini, and Stan Getz.
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Parole e Musica: Words and Music was recorded in Italy with Umiliani's orchestra in the early 1960s while Helen Merrill was living there.
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Helen Merrill returned to the US in the 1960s, but moved to Japan in 1966, staying after touring there and marrying Donald J Brydon in April 1967.
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Helen Merrill developed a following in Japan that remains strong decades later.
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Helen Merrill recorded a bossa nova album, a Christmas album, and a Rodgers and Hammerstein album.
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Helen Merrill is the mother of one child, her son, Allan Preston Sachs, who was born in New York in 1951 from her first marriage to Aaron Sachs.
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Helen Merrill's son was later known professionally as Alan Merrill, and was a successful singer and songwriter who wrote and recorded the original version of the rock classic "I Love Rock N Roll" as lead vocalist of the British band Arrows, he died in 2020.