Helen Merrill brings a warm and expressive quality to her vocals, and though she steps into the studio only sporadically, the results are invariably distinctive, marked by bold risks and unexpected turns. Public performances began for her in 1944, followed by a two-year stint with the Reggie Childs Orchestra from 1946 to 1947. During that era she was briefly married to clarinetist Aaron Sachs and seized chances to perform alongside leading modernists such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Bud Powell. In 1952 she joined Earl Hines, then launched a steady recording association with EmArcy in 1954. Her first acknowledged classic emerged from the partnership with Clifford Brown. Between 1954 and 1958 she completed several noteworthy EmArcy sessions, one of which, in 1956, coaxed Gil Evans back into active work; the entire series later appeared together in an extensive box set. After dates for Atco and Metrojazz in 1959, she relocated to Italy for four years, performing frequently across Europe and Japan. Upon returning to the United States, Merrill collaborated with pianist and arranger Dick Katz on two adventurous Milestone albums in 1967 and 1968 before settling in Japan, where she enjoyed considerable popularity. She came back to the United States in the mid-1970s and has since recorded for Inner City, Owl, EmArcy—including a further project with Gil Evans—Antilles, and Verve, the last of which issued her 2000 album Jelena Ana Milcetic a.k.a. Helen Merrill.
