Jeri Southern

Jeri Southern (born Genevieve Lillian Hering; August 5, 1926 – August 4, 1991) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She began playing piano at the age of three, and when she was six years old began studying classical piano. She studied piano and voice at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, where she became interested in jazz.

Career After beginning her career at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Southern joined a United States Navy recruiting tour during World War II. In the late 1940s, she worked in clubs in Chicago, where she had earlier played piano for singer Anita O'Day. After joining Capitol Records, she had success with interpretations of Cole Porter songs arranged by Billy May. In 1960, while working at The Crescendo, she collapsed on stage. She cancelled a subsequent tour and retired from singing. Her only child, Kathryn King, said performing had a negative psychological effect on Southern, and that that was the reason she stopped performing. In a 2010 newspaper article, King talked about Southern's shyness, saying she had "a paralyzing case of performance anxiety. Just contemplating performing made her enormously anxious and depressed."

Death Southern died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, in 1991, a day before her 65th birthday. She was diabetic and had been diagnosed with double pneumonia before her death.

Discography Warm Intimate Songs in the Jeri Southern Style with Dave Barbour (Decca, 1954) The Southern Style (Decca, 1955) You Better Go Now (Decca, 1956) When Your Heart's on Fire (Decca, 1957) Jeri Gently Jumps (Decca, 1957) Jeri Southern Meets Johnny Smith (Roulette, 1958) A Prelude to a Kiss (Decca, 1958) Southern Breeze (Roulette, 1958) Coffee, Cigarettes & Memories (Roulette, 1958) Southern Hospitality (Decca, 1958) Jeri Southern Meets Cole Porter (Capitol, 1959) Jeri Southern at the Crescendo (Capitol, 1960) The Dream's on Jeri (Jasmine, 1998) The Very Thought of You: The Decca Years: 1951–1957 (GRP, 1999) Southern Hospitality/Jeri Gently Jumps (MCA, 1999) Romance in the Dark (Delta Music, 2009) The Complete Roulette and Capitol Recordings (Fresh Sound, 2014) Jeri Southern Blue Note, Chicago, March 1956 (Uptown, 2016)

As guest Shorty Rogers, The Shorty Rogers Quintet (Studio West, 1990)