When the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame presented Richie Merlo with a lifetime achievement award last December, it capped a career that spanned more than six decades and stretched from coast to coast.
A crooner and jazz trumpeter, Mr. Merlo was featured in the Buffalo area’s leading nightclubs, past and present. At the fabled Town Casino in the early 1960s, he was vocalist and emcee for appearances by the major stars of the day.