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Mharlyn Merritt

Soul of a poet. Mind of a pragmatist. Heart of a Jazz-ster.

About Me

Mharlyn Merritt is a vocalist with roots in Jazz, R&B and Classic Soul who has lived in London and New York and now creates music, novels and poems in her hometown of Philadelphia, PA.

Daughter of world-renowned Jazz bassist/composer, Jymie Merritt (Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie), Mharlyn Merritt is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowship in Jazz Performance and an Interdisciplinary Arts Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. With the band Messenger, led by guitarist/composer Richard Lee Steacker (Grover Washington Band), Mharlyn opened for Hugh Masakela, Eddie Palmieri, and Richard Beltzer among others. During the disco-era her voice graced the background of numerous sessions at Philly’s legendary Sigma Sound Studios.

Mharlyn is also the sister of bassist and sought after studio musician, Michael Merritt of Conan O'Brien Band fame. Brother and sister have collaborated on the definitive Jazz Vocal cover album, “Alone Together.” Talks of a future collaboration are in the works. Upcoming releases on Ms. Merritt's Honeybunch Record label include “Jukebox Reveries” with Mharlyn's longtime accomplice in Jazz the extraordinary Jazz pianist John Di Martino, an EP of progressive ambient/ funk soundscapes composed by Ms. Merritt entitled, “WhoSoEver.” and the long awaited homage to Dakota Staton, “I Owe It To Dakota in September of 2023.

Mharlyn Merritt has an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh-Dickinson University. Her first novel, THE Actor was indie published in 2020 and has a 3.2 rating on Goodreads.

My Jazz Story

"I love Jazz because it is in my DNA. I was listening in the womb. It informs every molecule in my body and brain with insatiable curiosity about life. I am a die-hard iconoclast and egalitarian because of Jazz. It has always been a music of exploration and freedom that can take the mind and soul places beyond the farthest reaches of any space probe. I am buoyed and calmed simultaneously by the power and passion that flows from Jazz musicians and Jazz vocalists who keep reaching for perfection. Life would be so freaking boring without it."