Helen Merrill aka Jelena Ana Milcetic, one of the most distinctive jazz singers ever

I never had a singer as an idol. I listened to many musicians and my idols were [saxophonists] Ben Webster, Lester Young, Johnny Hodges. These people knew the lyrics of the songs and interpreted the music with the meaning of the song in mind adding their own special feelings. My mother was my real influence. She felt music from a very spiritual place. A private place that was all her own. This kind of music can have no teacher – it came from her birthplace which was the island of KRK in Croatia. From that, I permitted my own experiences to lead my interpretation of music. I do not believe that art should emulate or we would still be looking for clones. We learn from one another and from there go on our own journey.

I learned that spaces and the imagination of the listener were as important as the messenger. There are lines in “I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen” to this day I feel deeply moved by: “The roses all have left your cheeks, I watched them fade away and die… your voice is sad when e’re you speak and tears bedim your loving eyes, Oh I will take you home Kathleen to where your heart will feel no pain,” etc. – it was clear to me my mother was singing about herself. My mother missed her homeland and family there.

Source www.croatia.org/crown/articles/8792/1/Helen-Merrill-60-Years-of-Warm-Sweet-Songs.html

Helen Merrill aka Jelena Ana Milcetic
Review by Alex Henderson

Helen Merrill has never been afraid to take chances, but the veteran jazz singer is especially ambitious on Jelena Ana Milcetic — an autobiographical (or at least semi-autobiographical) work that draws on jazz, pop, and folk as well as traditional Croatian music. This is an extremely personal CD, and to fully appreciate it, you should know something about Merrill’s background. Although she was born and raised in the U.S., her parents were Croatian immigrants — Jelena Ana Milcetic is the Croatian name she was given at birth, but the jazz world has known her as Helen Merrill.

The singer (who was 68 and 69 when this CD was recorded over a five-month period in 1999) learned a lot of about Croatian culture from her parents, and by calling this release Jelena Ana Milcetic, she is celebrating her heritage. But the album is also a celebration of Merrill’s American heritage. By housing jazz, pop, folk, and Croatian elements under the same roof, the New Yorker acknowledges her parents’ homeland as well as her U.S. upbringing. This isn’t a release that caters to jazz purists — although some of the material is very jazz-oriented (especially Merrill’s interpretations of “Among My Souvenirs” and “Lost in the Stars”), some of it falls outside of jazz.

But as unpredictable and eclectic as this album is, the CD never sounds confused or aimless. From Judy Collins’ “My Father” to Michel Legrand’s “Nobody Knows” to the traditional Croatian song “Ti Si Rajski Cvijet,” everything fits together perfectly. Jelena Ana Milcetic is among Merrill’s most impressive accomplishments.

Source www.allmusic.com/album/aka-jelena-ana-milcetic

Jelena Ana Milcetic a.k.a. Helen Merrill is a 2000 studio by Helen Merrill. The album is a tribute to Merrill’s Croatian heritage.

Alex Henderson: “Helen Merrill has never been afraid to take chances, but the veteran jazz singer is especially ambitious on Jelena Ana Milcetic, an autobiographical (or at least semi-autobiographical) work that draws on jazz, pop, and folk as well as traditional Croatian music…But as unpredictable and eclectic as this album is, the CD never sounds confused or aimless…everything fits together perfectly. Jelena Ana Milcetic is among Merrill’s most impressive accomplishments”

Croatian traditional tunes sung by Helen Merrill:

• Kirje (or Kirye; Croatian tamburitza play),
• Imaging Krk,
• My Father (starting with the melody of Anko Ančice),
• Tanac (sopile song from the island of Krk),
• Ti si rajski cvijet (You Are a Flower from Paradise)