With a career spanning six decades, the New York born jazz vocalist Helen
Merrill has recorded and performed with some of America's most respected names.
From the age of 14 she began singing in jazz clubs around New York's Bronx
district and by the time she was 16 had turned professional.
Her recording debut came in 1952 with Earl Hines, one of the most influential
jazz pianists of his era, who asked Merrill and Etta Jones to sing on the single
'A Cigarette for Company'. The song was a minor hit and brought Merrill to the
attention of Mercury Records who signed her for their n...