INTRODUCTION.
Helena Paul has been a professional singer, songwriter and entertainer her whole life. She writes and performs varying styles of music ranging from Soul and Reggae to Pop and R&B but with her amazing three and half octave range and wonderful warm vocal quality, she has tended to specialise in Jazz and Blues during the more recent years.
Her sparkling and real personality is displayed for all her audiences who feel totally involved in her and the music presented before them, regardless of whether she is performing with an intimate duo or trio, an exciting quartet, one of her much larger band formations with horn sections and other vocalists or guesting in front of a gospel choir in a church. Her performances also include guest appearances with a variety of Big Swing Bands all over Europe.
Helena has also toured with various other professional pop acts, performing backing vocals as well as lead. Her love is to perform but the perfectionist part of her nature also takes Helena to working in recording studios where she has established a good reputation as a session singer for lead as well as backing vocals and vocal arrangements.
She has several private students to whom she teaches vocal production and stage craft but Helena also works hand in hand with recording studios too, helping them to produce good vocal performances from their signed Artists by coaching them actually in the recording booth.
Helena has created for herself a great reputation and has a name as a vocalist and a performer in London, Germany, Spain and Europe. She travels from country to country today for live performances and studio recordings as well as song writing sessions.
When speaking to her colleagues you will hear that Helena is more like a musician than just a singer as she understands each instrument on stage and can scat like a soloist as well as leave the spaces needed to feature each musician as a team member. At the same time she can lead a band with great control, timing and awareness while never forgetting the audience in front of them, giving them the number one priority in the performance!
Influences
SOUL, BLUES, JAZZ, SWING, MOTOWN, REGGAE, POP.... and the list goes on!
RECORDING HISTORY.
Helena's first publishing deal was in Germany in '95 for a song she wrote with one of the producers from Logic Records, Frankfurt, for an act called Hysterie. Not long after that she actually moved from London to live in Germany and thats when Helena first began working in the German pop market. Since then she has sung for and worked with many German acts including Xavier Naidoo, Edo Zanki, Sascha, Soehne Mannheims, Haddaway, Sydney Youngblood, Laith Al Deen, De Phazz, 3P, Sweet Box, Captain Hollywood, Master Boy, as well as Down Low, Jam & Spoon, Costa Cordalis and many more!
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Helena was then published by A& K Music Productions in Darmstadt together with Warner Chappell in Hamburg because of a song that they co-wrote for another Logic act called Le Click. The song And We Fly was accepted on the album and was released in 97 State side as well as in Europe. Two years later they also had a small underground club hit in Germany and the UK with 7 Ways To Love (Shooting Star Records/Snipe featuring Helena Paul).
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In 2000 Helena recorded her 3rd CD which was only released in Japan. This was a project with Fyaaz Virgu and Ray Carless, two musicians previously from the UK Band, Incognito - amongst their other claims to fame! The music includes great arrangements of diverse pop covers as well as original songs. Signed by Toshiba/EMI, the deal was based on the single a dance floor version of the classic standard Sunny and this became a hit in Japan. Helena had recorded this track two weeks before leaving London to live in Germany in 1995 and four years later the option got taken up. The album, Frayz, Phase One featuring Helena Paul sold more than 6 thousand copies within the first 3 months of release even though Helena was never in Japan to promote it. Also the single was used for several months as a featured theme on a local soap opera on Japanese TV. All the way through the album you can hear great backing vocal arrangements created by Helena which really add spice to the overall performance.
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There are two more CDs available in Germany: About Me Live in Concert on Merkton Records, Germany/Koch International. This was recorded in 98 with Helenas own jazz trio in Cafe Central, Weinheim Germany. Guest performer, Michael Koschorreck is featured as one of her soloists. Michael (known to his friends as well as his professional colleagues as Kosho) is now part of the German chart topping pop act, Soehne Mannheims. Helena has also recorded vocals for his solo project CD, Tinggal Kosho released June 02 and they subsequently began song writing together. The second soloist on the CD, About Me - Live In Concert, is the wonderful, talented saxophonist, Jimmy Gallagher originally from Scotland. Helena has known and very much enjoyed working together with Jimmy since the early 90s in London. He has also since travelled between London, Germany and Spain with his own projects. The whole of this CD carries a wonderful warm atmosphere with many great highs as well as intimate lows. It has a great live, raw quality like you are sitting in the audience.
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The second CD is All That Jazz featuring Helena Paul (Satin Doll Records, Germany). This CD received a fair amount of airplay all over Europe and has been widely sold amongst the jazz scene in Germany and surrounding territories. Again it was recorded live in Albstadt, Southern Germany with some of Germanys top players. Many of the arrangements were done by Klaus Wagenleiter from the SWR Radio Big Band, Stuttgart. A great example of good swingers and standards performed with a fine panache....
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TO READ MORE CHECK OUT RECORDING HISTORY BLOG :-)
Hey Helena, thanks for your kind words. I was just checking out your trax, you sound GREAT! Your voice is very soulful and actually reminds me a bit of Anita Baker.
HELLO PRINCESS.. NICE TO CONNECT AGAIN.. IM MISSING MARBELLA AND MY FREINDS THERE! HOLLAND IS GREAT FOR KIDS, OUR DAUGHTER SANSARA SPEAKS FLUENT DUTCH ALLREADY AND HAS SETTLED IN VERY WELL HERE... LOVE AND PEACE TO YOU, PLEASE SAY HELLO TO THE GANG FOR ME.. ZAK AKA STEVE CLINE..
Hello There Ms Divine. Heard the new tracks and they are magical. Your voice is so crisp. Wish we could have made time to hook up musically in Marbella. Next time. Stay well, hello to mums, and Godspeed.
Gracias Helena por el add. Te escuché hace ya años en Fuengirola y, me quedé impresionada por tu gran y preciosa voz, pero sobretodo por tu enorme profesionalidad. Un beso muy grande.
Gracias por agregarme, besos a tu corazón, espero que te guste mi web y mi blog y algún día leas mi novla 14de abril, editorial abecedario, besos belleza
Ciao HELENA thanks you for the add!it is a pleasure to listen to your music and congratulations for the beautiful voice. A hug from Italy ....... Antonio.
It is a pleasure to get to know your music 'pearls' here, dear Helena,via Renée and Dacia...I am very much pleased and honoured! Many greets from Hattingen near Essen, Hillu
So far, dear Helena, I had no opportunity to listen to you in a concert, but your jazzy intimate tunes here sound great to me as I also favorise duos or trios....I was very much honoured by your nice comment! I love to promote privately my musical friends who earn more worldwide attention!! Good music is always the greatest gift for me!! Many greets from the RUHR, Hillu
Dear Helena,
thank you so much for your kind words. I saw you several times e.g. with the Wright Thing and also think that a duet together with you would be great!
Best wishes,
Barbara
HEY HELENA,LONGTIME...SOMETHING YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN...
LEAD VOCALIST AND SOLO ARTIST 'SANDRA ST. VICTOR' FROM 'THE FAMILY STAND' WILL BE MY VERY SPECIAL GUEST,THE WAYNE BOUCAUD RADIO,PLAYVYBZ. COM .
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