Jeri Southern - new Uptown

[Chuck Nessa]

[jazzbo]

Looks like something to hear!

[mjzee]

Wow!

[Dan Gould]

and already out, no waiting with baited breath:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Note-Chicago-March-1956/dp/B01ECKPHF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465914425&sr=8-1&keywords=jeri+southern

[JSngry]

Neither pro nor con on Jeri Southern, is this some kind of a game-changer in any way?

[Larry Kart]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

and already out, no waiting with baited breath:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Note-Chicago-March-1956/dp/B01ECKPHF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465914425&sr=8-1&keywords=jeri+southern

Dan -- Not to be a jerk here, but it's "bated" (i.e. held in in expectation) breath. Think of, "The cat ate some cheese and lay down in front of the mouse hole with baited breath."

Jim -- I've got a fair amount of Southern. To me she defines the line between jazz and cabaret singing. I once tried to parse that out and recall concluding that as tasty as Southern was musically, the musical aspects of her music-making were more or less decorative; the core of what she was doing was verbal/dramatic. In particular, Southern was often rather static rhythmically, but one could argue that this trance-like effect was what the dramas she was creating required. Even closer to the jazz-cabaret edge, and more to my taste, was Audrey Morris.

Some Morris, from early on, maybe 1957. She got better and better with age, but I can't find any YouTube  clips from later on where I'm sure she's on piano, which is a big part of what she's up to:

 

OK -- here's Morris at her latter day best. The way the "grain" of her now-deepened voice tells the story!

 

[Larry Kart]

Just ordered the Southern -- why not? Will report.

[Larry Kart]

Listened to most of the Southern. If you know her other work, it's not a game changer, but if you like her other work, you'll like it. As in the past I find some Southren (but more than a little Southern) goes a long way. There are moments, though, when she does something with a lyric that makes you catch your breath -- here on "You Better Go Now," for one. Nice, typically thorough Uptown-style liner notes by Kirk Silsbee, but I was surprised that he didn't mention that the last love of Southern's life and her companion in later years until his death was famed Hollywood composer Hugo Friedhofer, nine time Oscar nominee and winner for "The Best Years of Our Lives."