Helen Carr (1922* – September 20, 1960) was a jazz vocalist in the 1940’s and 1950’s who performed with Charlie Barnet, Stan Kenton, Buddy Morrow, Charles Mingus, Donn Trenner and many others.
There is much speculation about her artistic beginnings, as there was a possible three other vocalists named Helen Carr. One who performed in an amateur vocal contest at the Gateway Theater in Oakland, another who worked in the Pennsylvania area and another who performed in the Broadway production of Caribbean Queen. All in all, a real source of confusion for music historians. It was not the same Helen though, because our singer took her last name Carr only after marrying Walter Carr in June 1941.
There is no available information about what Helen Carr did during the first three years of her failed marriage, but it is certain that her life took a turn when she met Donn Trenner in San Francisco, in March 1945, a boy five years younger than her. By then, Helen was 23 years old, already separated, but not yet divorced from her husband, and had a four-year-old son, Gordon Carr, who lived with his father’s sister. Donn Trenner was the pianist for the popular Ted Fio Rito Orchestra, engaged at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco when he met Helen who was developing her singing career as a nightclub vocalist.
Work was scarce, and Donn disbanded the trio after four months to accept a job with Buddy Morrow, who was reorganizing his orchestra, and happened to be a favorite in musical circles. This new job allowed Helen to be the featured vocalist and sharing the vocal spot with singer Don Casanave. But this was short lived as they both moved to San Fransisco in 1948 to be near her son from her previous marriage. During February 1949 Donn and Helen went to Los Angeles to do a session for Dolphins of Hollywood, with Charles “Baron” Mingus & his Rhythm. Donn was the pianist and Helen was the featured vocalist in Irving Berlin’s ballad “Say It Isn’t So.”
In 1954 Helen, gave up the band business to try her luck as a single. She appeared at the Crescendo club and elsewhere in Los Angeles, where she gained some traction, and Red Clyde, the West Coast producer for Bethlehem Records, signed Helen to the label. Her contract resulted in two excellent albums under her own name, as well as two songs she recorded as a guest singer in a Max Bennett date, with all sessions taking place in 1955.
By 1957 her rocky marriage with Donn was at an end and Helen signed with MGM. She recorded only one single, in October, which included It’s Beautiful, and Love Is a Serious Business. She was backed by an orchestra conducted by LeRoy Holmes, and in an attempt to reach a broader audience the tunes and arrangements had a certain pop flair. The label pushed for promotion in radio shows, contacting DJs, and generally doing everything they could to give Carr a fighting chance and some exposure, but despite their effort, the record did not have the expected success and went largely unnoticed among the bunch MGM new releases.
Donn Trenner stated that during 1960 he visited Helen in Roosevelt Hospital, New York, approximately two weeks before she passed away, at age 37. She was buried in an unnamed grave in Linden, New Jersey. On September 20, 2023 a Headstone was created to mark jazz singer’s unmarked grave.Even though she died so young and remained largely unknown outside of the West Coast, Helen left an undeniable mark as a jazz vocalist. Everyone who heard her sing was captivated by her completely natural talent and her individual approach to jazz.
(Edited from Jordi Pujol album liner notes) (* since posting this bio I have found that she was born sometime in October)