JERI SOUTHERN - Southern Breeze (1958-1989) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

One mark of a great jazz vocalist is the material she picks. Jeri Southern was one of the great students of jazz-era song, and the material she chose for Southern Breeze is strong in two ways -- they're not only great songs, but they're great for her. Never blessed with a strong voice, Southern instead realized the artistic advantages those qualities brought, and often chose torch songs or unlucky-in-love songs that accentuated her seeming weaknesses and everywoman qualities. With charts from arranger genius Marty Paich, Southern opens on a high note, the glib "Down with Love." Yet to come are happy yet forlorn choices "Who Wants to Fall in Love" and "Because He Reminds Me of You" -- Southern even finds the catch in "Crazy He Calls Me." And in true West Coast fashion, the music features brass that swings lightly and a dynamic range that frequently plumbs the depths (including tuba and baritone sax), all possible thanks to Paich's charts and able musicians including Georgie Auld, Don Fagerquist, and Bob Enevoldsen. Upbeat standards get their chance to shine as well -- "Ridin' High," "I Like the Likes of You" -- but most of Southern Breeze is gloriously melancholy. by John Bush
Tracklist :
1    Down with Love 3:14
Harold Arlen / E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
2    Crazy He Calls Me 3:49
Bob Russell / Carl Sigman
3    Lazy Bones 3:07
Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer
4    Who Wants to Fall in Love 3:17
Bart Howard
5    Then I'll Be Tired of You 3:50
E.Y. "Yip" Harburg / Arthur Schwartz
6    Ridin' High 2:24
Cole Porter
7    Because He Reminds Me of You 3:16
Mack Gordon / Harry Revel
8    Porgy 3:37
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
9    Are These Really Mine 3:43
Robert Cook / David Saxon / Sunny Skylar
10    Isn't This a Lovely Day 3:01
Irving Berlin
11    Warm Kiss 2:58
Doris Fisher
12    I Like the Likes of You 2:55
Vernon Duke / E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Herb Geller
Arranged By, Conductor – Marty Paich
Baritone Saxophone – Jack Dulong
Bass – Bud Clark
Drums – Mel Lewis
French Horn – Vince De Rosa
Guitar – Bill Pittman
Tenor Saxophone – Georgie Auld
Trumpet – Don Fagerquist, Frank Beach
Tuba – John Kitzmiller
Valve Trombone – Bob Enevoldsen
Vocals – Jeri Southern

JERI SOUTHERN - You Better Go Now + When Your Heart's on Fire (1996) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

If you were to leaf through all the material written about Jeri Southern in the past five years or so by record reviewers, night club critics, newspaper columnists and others, you would notice a constant recurrence of such words as delicacy, sensitivity, taste, subtlety and restraint. And if you find these qualities admirable, then it's a fine experience you have in store as you listen to these lyrical little milestones in Miss Southern's recording career. On some of them she sounds very close to tears, on others she sounds wise and profound and perhaps just a bit cynical. Sometimes she seems like a wistful little girl, and the next minute she's silken and sultry and seductive. The moods are many and complex, and they are all Jeri Southern's. They are all yours too, to share with her here in this album. Jasmine records
Tracklist :
You Better Go Now (1956)
1    You Better Go Now 3:02
Irvin Graham / Bix Reichner
2    Give Me Time 3:14
Alec Wilder
3    Something I Dreamed Last Night 3:44
Sammy Fain / Herbert Magidson / Jack Yellen
4    The Man That Got Away 3:12
Harold Arlen / Ira Gershwin
5    When I Fall in Love 3:07
Edward Heyman / Victor Young
6    Just Got to Have Him Around 2:55
Redd Evans / Dave Mann
7    Dancing on the Ceiling 3:11
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
8    Speak Softly to Me 2:40
Dave Coleman
9    What Good Am I Without You 3:08
Sammy Gallop / Don Rodney
10    I Thought of You Last Night 3:14
Ralph Freed
11    That Ole Devil Called Love 3:19
Doris Fisher / Allan Roberts
When Your Heart's On Fire (1957)
12    Remind Me 3:14
Dorothy Fields / Jerome Kern
13    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 3:51
Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern
14    Can I Forget You? 2:49
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
15    Little Girl Blue 3:51
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
16    I Remember You 3:28
Johnny Mercer / Victor Schertzinger
17    He Was Too Good to Me 3:45
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
18    You're Driving Me Crazy (What Did I Do?) 2:22
Walter Donaldson
19    You Make Me Feel So Young 2:40
Mack Gordon / Josef Myrow
20    Someone to Watch over Me 3:51
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
21    Autumn in New York 2:32
Vernon Duke
22    My Ship 3:56
Ira Gershwin / Kurt Weill
23    No More 3:33
Tutti Camarata / Bob Russell
24    Let Me Love You 2:10
Bart Howard
Credits :
Conductor – Lew Douglas (faixas: 6), Norman Leyden (faixas: 7), Sonny Burke (faixas: 4, 12), Sy Oliver (faixas: 2, 3, 9, 10), Camarata (faixas: 1, 8, 11, 13 to 24), Victor Young (faixas: 5)
Vocals, Piano [Solo] – Jeri Southern (faixas: 5)

JERI SOUTHERN - The Very Thought of You : The DECCA Years 1951-1957 (1999) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Whether Jeri Southern was a jazz singer or simply a jazz-influenced pop singer has been debated. To be sure, many of her '50s recordings were heavily arranged and devoid of improvisation -- and if you believe that improvisation is a key element of jazz, you have to believe that much of her output was essentially pop. But however you categorize her, Southern was among the finest female singers of her era. This 21-song collection, which came out in 1999, underscores the excellence of her '50s output for Decca. Southern's accompaniment ranges from lush string orchestras to the trio of guitarist Dave Barbour (who was best known for his work with Peggy Lee), and on some selections, she is heard on piano. You could argue that Southern's piano solo on "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" is a jazz solo, but on most of these recordings, pop considerations prevail over jazz considerations. Blessed with a smoky, warm voice, she brings a great deal of charm and vulnerability to "The Very Thought of You," "My Ship," "I Remember You" and other standards. It's such a shame that Southern chose to retire from recording and performing in the early '60s, when she was only 36 -- quite possibly, she could have continued to record first-class pop for another 20 or 25 years. But thankfully, listeners still have fine collections like The Very Thought of You to savor. by Alex Henderson  
Tracklist :
1 You Better Go Now 3:00
Irvin Graham / Bix Reichner
2 The Very Thought Of You 3:04
Ray Noble
3 It's Delovely 2:06
Cole Porter
4 Dancing On The Ceiling 3:08
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
5 All In Fun 2:34
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
6 When I Fall In Love 3:04
Edward Heyman / Victor Young
7 I Hadn't Anyone Till You 2:50
Ray Noble
8 Remind Me 3:11
Dorothy Fields / Jerome Kern
9 I Don't Know Where To Turn 3:09
Ray Hutchinson / Jeri Southern
10  He Was Too Good To Me 3:42
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
11 If I Had You 2:29
Jimmy Campbell / Reginald Connelly / Ted Shapiro
12 I Remember You 3:26
Johnny Mercer / Victor Schertzinger
13 Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye 3:16
Cole Porter
14 My Ship 3:55
Ira Gershwin / Kurt Weill
15 An Occasional Man 2:32
Ralph Blane / Hugh Martin
16 Someone To Watch Over Me 3:49
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
17 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 2:37
Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern
18 Close As Pages In A Book 3:03
Dorothy Fields / Sigmund Romberg
19 No Moon At All 2:32
Redd Evans / Dave Mann
20 You're Nearer 4:06
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
21 Nobody's Heart 3:25
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers 

JERI SOUTHERN - ... Meets Cole Porter + ... At The Crescendo (1999) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Two of jazz vocalist Jeri Southern's full-length LPs are collected here on this two-fer CD release by EMI.
Tracklist :
... Meets Cole Porter (1959)
1     Don't Look at Me That Way 2:59
Cole Porter
2     Get Out of Town 3:04
Cole Porter
3     Looking at You 2:31
Cole Porter
4     It's All Right With Me 4:45
Cole Porter
5     Let's Fly Away 2:31
Cole Porter
6     Why Shouldn't I? 2:30
Cole Porter
7     You're the Top 2:49
Cole Porter
8     After You 2:50
Cole Porter
9     Which? 2:41
Cole Porter
10     I Concentrate on You 3:49
Cole Porter
11     It's Bad for Me 2:13
Cole Porter
12     Weren't We Fools? 2:49
Cole Porter
... At The Crescendo (1960)
13     I Thought of You Last Night 2:40
Ralph Freed
14     I Get a Kick Out of You 3:50
Cole Porter
15     Dancing on the Ceiling 3:48
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
16     Blame It on My Youth 3:32
Edward Heyman / Oscar Levant
17     Remind Me 4:30
Dorothy Fields / Jerome Kern
18     You Better Go Now 2:39
Irvin Graham / Bix Reichner
19     I'm Just a Woman 3:30
Gail Allen   
20     Something I Dreamed Last Night 4:47
Sammy Fain / Herbert Magidson / Jack Yellen
21     Nice Work If You Can Get It 2:05
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
22     When I Fall in Love 3:20
Edward Heyman / Victor Young