Rating:
Genre:
Vocal Music
Release Date: 08/23/2005
Although she didn't have
jazz's strongest voice,
Jeri Southern's careful, hushed, and unhurried phrasing gives the best of her sides a tremendous intimacy, making it easy to slip into
Southern's world, where love forces every hand and nothing comes easy. Strong on moody
ballads,
Southern's limitations became obvious when she was forced to sing more upbeat
novelty numbers, however, and all too often her producers steered her away from her strengths. Luckily there are several moving
ballads on this selection of
Southern's early years with
Decca Records, including her signature
"You Better Go Now" and marvelously realized versions of
"When I Fall in Love" and
"I Thought of You Last Night," making this a decent introduction to
Southern's cool method-actor style of singing.
~Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Listen
