Helen Merrill

Helen Merrill

born on 21/7/1930 in New York City, NY, United States

Helen Merrill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic [2] July 21, 1930) is an American jazz vocalist. Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades. She has recorded and performed with notable jazz musicians.[3]

Early life and career

Jelena Ana Milcetic was born in New York City in 1930 to Croatian immigrant parents.[4] She began singing in jazz clubs in the Bronx in 1944, aged fourteen.[5] By the time she was sixteen, Merrill had taken up music full-time.[6] In 1952, Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company" with the Earl Hines Band; the song was released on the D'Oro label, created specifically to record Hines' band with Merrill.[7] Etta Jones [8] was in Hines' band at the time and she too sang on this session, which was reissued on the Xanadu label in 1985.[9][10] At this time Merrill was married to musician Aaron Sachs. They divorced in 1956.[11]

Merrill was signed by Mercury Records for their new Emarcy label. In 1954, Merrill recorded her first LP, an eponymous record featuring trumpeter Clifford Brown[12] and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford,[13] among others. The album was produced and arranged by Quincy Jones, who was then twenty-one years old.[14] The success of Helen Merrill prompted Mercury to sign her for an additional four-album contract.[15]

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.[16] Evans' work on Dream of You was his first in many years. His arrangements on Merrill's laid the musical foundations for his work in following years with Miles Davis.[17]

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. She settled for a time in Italy, recording an album there and doing concerts with jazz musicians Piero Umiliani,[18] Chet Baker,[19] Romano Mussolini,[20] and Stan Getz. In 1960 arranger composer Ennio Morricone [21] worked with Helen Merrill on an EP "Helen Merrill sings Italian Songs"on the RCA Italiana label.[22]

Parole e Musica: Words and Music was recorded in Italy with Umiliani's orchestra in the early 1960s while Merrill was living there. The LP features the unusual additions preceding each song, of spoken translations of eloquent Italian word lyrics, complementing the ballads and torch songs.[23]

She returned to the U.S. in the 1960s, but moved to Japan in 1966, staying after touring there and marrying Donald J. Brydon (of United Press International) in April 1967.[24] She developed a following in Japan that remains strong to this day. In addition to recording while in Japan, Merrill became involved in other aspects of the music industry, producing albums for Trio Records [25] and co-hosting a show on FEN (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) with Bud Widom [26] in Tokyo.

Later career

Merrill returned to the US in 1972 and has continued recording and regular touring since then. Her later career has seen her experiment in different music genres. She has recorded a bossa nova album,[27] a Christmas album [28] and a record's worth of Rodgers and Hammerstein,[29] among many others.[30] Two albums from Merrill's later career have been tributes to past musical partners. In 1987, she and Gil Evans recorded fresh arrangements of their Dream of You; the new recordings were released under the title Collaboration and became the most critically acclaimed of Merrill's albums in the 1980s.[31]

In 1987 she co-produced a CD album, Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter'[32]'. In 1995 she recorded Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown as a tribute to the trumpeter.[33] One of her millennium released recordings draws from her Croatian heritage as well as her American upbringing: Jelena Ana Milcetic a.k.a. Helen Merrill (2000). The album combines jazz, pop and blues songs with several traditional Croatian songs sung in Croatian.[4] She also released the album "Lilac Wine" in 2003 to critical acclaim.[34] Helen Merrill is still actively performing and popular in Japan with 3 nights (two shows a night) of concerts at the Tokyo Blue Note club in April 2017'.[35]

Personal life

Merrill has been married three times, first to musician Aaron Sachs,[36] secondly to UPI vice president Donald J. Brydon,[24] and thirdly to arranger-conductor Torrie Zito.[37]

She has one child from her first marriage, known professionally as Alan Merrill, who is a singer and songwriter who wrote and recorded the original (1975) version of the rock classic "I Love Rock N Roll" as lead vocalist of Arrows, the British band.[38]

Partial discography

  • Helen Merrill (EmArcy, 1954)
  • Helen Merrill with Strings (EmArcy, 1955)
  • Dream of You (EmArcy, 1957)
  • Merrill at Midnight (EmArcy, 1957)
  • The Nearness of You (EmArcy, 1958)
  • You've Got a Date with the Blues (MetroJazz, 1958)
  • American Country Songs (Atco, 1959)
  • Helen Merrill Sings Italian Songs (RCA Italiana, 1960)
  • The Artistry of Helen Merrill (Mainstream, 1965)
  • Deep in a Dream (Milestone, 1965) with Dick Katz - reissued in 1967 as The Feeling is Mutual
  • Bossa Nova in Tokyo (Victor, 1967)
  • Something Special (Inner City, 1967)
  • A Shade of Difference (Milestone, 1968) with Dick Katz
  • Helen Merrill Sings the Beatles (EMI, 1970)
  • Chasin' the Bird (EmArcy, 1979)
  • Casa Forte (Mercury, 1980)
  • No Tears, No Goodbyes with Gordon Beck (Owl, 1984)
  • A Shade of Difference) with Dick Katz (Milestone, 1968; remastered for Landmark, 1986)
  • Music Makers (Owl, 1986)
  • Collaboration: Helen Merrill-Gil Evans (Emarcy, 1988)
  • Just Friends (EmArcy, 1989)
  • Duets (EmArcy, 1989) with Ron Carter
  • Clear Out of This World (Antilles, 1992)
  • Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown (Verve, 1995)
  • You and the Night and the Music (Verve, 1998)
  • Jelena Ana Milcetic a.k.a. Helen Merrill (Verve, 2000)
  • Lilac Wine (Verve, 2003)
With Billy Eckstine and Benny Carter
  • Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter (Verve, 1986)
With Ron Carter
  • The Duets (Verve, 1988)

References

  1. ^ Bahl, Mathew (2000-09-01). "Helen Merrill: Jelena Ana Milcetic aka Helen Merrill". Allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  2. ^ "Helen Merrill - Biography - IMDb". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2017-04-09. 
  3. ^ "Helen Merrill | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  4. ^ a b Alex Henderson. "Aka Jelena Ana Milcetic - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  5. ^ Grant Jackson. "ksfr: : Helen Merrill On Piano Jazz (2010-09-24)". Publicbroadcasting.net. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  6. ^ Yoshi Kato (2000-07-31). "Helen Merrill Delivers Tribute To Croat Heritage". MTV. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  7. ^ "A Cigarette for Company / Ella's Fella by Helen Merrill & Earl "Fatha" Hines Orkestra (Single, Vocal Jazz): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  8. ^ Joan Merrill. "NPR's Jazz Profiles: Etta Jones". Npr.org. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ Liner notes to Xanadu 203, Earl Hines Varieties
  11. ^ HaarFager (2008-11-11). "Music For Every Mood: Jazzy Lady". Musicforeverymood.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  12. ^ Richard Mortifoglio. "Helen Merrill - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  13. ^ "Dream of You - Helen Merrill | J-DISC - Online Jazz Discography". Jdisc.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  14. ^ "Helen Merrill - Songs, Reviews, Credits". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 11, 2017. 
  15. ^ Scott Yanow. "Complete Helen Merrill on Mercury (1954-1958) - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  16. ^ "Helen Merrill - Dream Of You (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  17. ^ Stephen Cook. "Dream of You - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  18. ^ Thom Jurek. "Parole e Musica - Helen Merrill,Piero Umiliani Orchestra | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  19. ^ Thom Jurek. "Smog [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - Chet Baker,Piero Umiliani | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  20. ^ "Helen Merrill - Parole e Musica - RCA/Schema Earward [Helen Merrill Parole e Musica] : Jazz Record Center, Rare and out-of-print books, records and more". Jazzrecordcenter.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  21. ^ "Helen Merrill - In Italy (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  22. ^ "Helen Merrill - In Italy". 
  23. ^ "Helen Merrill – Parola e musica – 1960". Finnr.org. 2010-12-05. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2012-09-19. 
  24. ^ a b "Former UPI news executive Don Brydon dies". UPI.com. 2003-01-16. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  25. ^ Scott Yanow. "Helen Merrill Presents Al Haig Plays the Music of Jerome Kern - Al Haig | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  26. ^ Whetston, Thomas (2010-05-13). "AFRTS Archive: Small World - 1965". Afrtsarchive.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  27. ^ "Helen Merrill - Bossa Nova In Tokyo (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  28. ^ Scott Yanow. "Christmas Song Book - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  29. ^ William Ruhlmann. "Helen Merrill Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  30. ^ "Helen Merrill Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  31. ^ Scott Yanow. "Collaboration - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  32. ^ Scott Yanow. "Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter - Benny Carter,Billy Eckstine | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  33. ^ Scott Yanow. "Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown - Helen Merrill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  34. ^ "Helen Merrill - Lilac Wine (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  35. ^ "Helen Merrill - ヘレン・メリル|Artists|Blue Note Tokyo". Bluenote.co.jp. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  36. ^ "Reedman Aaron Sachs R.I.P. The surefire command... | Mosaic Records Daily Jazz Gazette". Mosaicrecords.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  37. ^ WILLIAM GRIMESDEC (2009-12-08). "Torrie Zito, Pianist and Jazz-Pop Arranger, Dies at 76 - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 
  38. ^ "I Love Rock And Roll by Joan Jett Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2017-04-08. 

Bibliography

  • Dahl, Linda (1984). Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazz Women. New York; Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-87910-128-8.
  • Owens, Thomas (1995). Bebop: The Music and Its Players. New York; Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505287-0.

External links


This page was last modified 05.04.2018 11:15:42

This article uses material from the article Helen Merrill from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.