Jeri Southern was a highly-regarded singer and pianist, well-known as a jazz performer, but whose recordings ranged across the spectrum of sophisticated and commercial pop as well as jazz in both small group and big band contexts.

It was while studying piano and voice at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart (Nebraska), that she became interested in jazz. In the late 1940s, she worked in clubs in Chicago where she once played piano for Anita O’Day. During this period, she became known for her singing, particularly for her renditions of torch songs. Establishing a solid reputation, she signed to Decca in 1951, recording prolifically for both single and album releases until she largely withdrew from the business because of the mental stress of performing towards the end of the decade.

This excellent-value 101-collection features just about all of the A- and B-sides of her singles on the London, Decca, Roulette & Capitol labels. It includes her hit singles You Better Go Now, Occasional Man and Fire Down Below. Listeners will also find selected titles from her Decca albums Warm Intimate Songs In The Jeri Southern Style, “he Southern Style, When Your Heart's On Fire, Jeri Gently Jumps, Prelude To A Kiss and Southern Hospitality, her Roulette albums Southern Breeze, Jeri Southern Meets Johnny Smith and Coffee, Cigarettes And Memories, and her Capitol albums Jeri Southern Meets Cole Porter and Jeri Southern At The Crescendo.

This set provides a substantial cross-section of her recorded work, and an enjoyable showcase for her versatility and talent as a sophisticated song stylist and top class interpreter both of contemporary pop and the standards of the Great American Songbook.

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