3 Photos Of Jeri Southern
To my father, no one could approach the jazz vocal greatness of Frank Sinatra. Jeri Southern came close.
An accomplished pianist, Ms. Southern started out playing clubs with small jazz combos in the late 1940s. She became known for her wispy torch song singing. Her first singles, released on Decca in 1954, were with the Dave Barbour Trio.
Soon she was recording with band leaders like Marty Paich and Billy May. Some of her tracks charted on Billboard.
In 1960, at the age of 34, she collapsed on stage at the Crescendo nightclub in Hollywood. She never recorded again. She retired from public performance in 1962.
Charlie reached out to her in the late 1980s. For decades, Jeri had been making a living as a vocal instructor. She composed songs, and wrote a technique book for singer-pianists. She raised her daughter, Kathryn.
Charlie and Ruth became good friends with Ms. Southern. She gave Ruth vocal lessons. Jeri died unexpectedly in August, 1991, one day shy of her 65th birthday.
Charlie included his favorite Jeri Southern recording (“Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”) on Quartet West’s nostalgic 1992 Haunted Heart. A song Jeri wrote for my father, “Theme For Charlie” was included on 1999’s Quartet West album Art Of The Song.
I found three photos of Ms. Southern inserted in a book she had given Ruth. The pictures are from 1991, the year she died. The book inscription, in Jon Winokur’s 1989 compendium Zen To Go, reads, “To Ruth - a fellow seeker - and one of the truly special people. Love, Jeri.” On the next page, she writes, “If you happen to stumble across the truth herein, for God’s sake pass it on!” The same can be said of her incredible and underappreciated jazz legacy. Solid, Jackson.
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