- Jeri Southern
Genevieve Lillian Hering, known by her
stage name Jeri Southern, (August 5 ,1926 -August 4 ,1991 ) was a jazz pianist and singer.Biography
Born in
Royal, Nebraska , Hering began playing piano at age three, and at age six started formal study in classical piano. She studied classical piano and voice at Sacred Heart inOmaha, Nebraska where she became interested in jazz.After beginning her career at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha she joined a
United States Navy recruiting tour duringWorld War II .. In the late 1940s she worked inChicago clubs where she once was a supporting vocalist forAnita O'Day . She became known for what might be deemedtorch song s.She signed with
Decca Records in 1951 and became known both for pop and jazz. The 1950s saw her at the height of her importance. In that decade she sang in a few films and in 1957 she had a top 30 hit with "Fire Down Below." After her switch toCapitol Records she had success doing interpretations ofCole Porter withBilly May arranging some of the more humorous examples.In the 1960s she gave up music to teach and later moved to
Hollywood to work on film composing withHugo Friedhofer . She also wrote Interpreting Popular Music At The Keyboard during her final years. She died inLos Angeles ofpneumonia in 1991.References
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Bh9fexql5ldde AllMusic]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/music/muze/index.pl?site=radio2&action=biography&artist_id=28417 BBC Radio 2]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6030 Find A Grave]
* [http://www.mrlucky.com/songbirds/html/sep99/9909_southern.html Songbirds: Jeri Southern]
* [http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/southern_jeri/bio.jhtml A Biography]
*imdb|0816129
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