Jeri Southern real name Genevieve Lillian Hering is known as one of Americas top exponents of Jazz and Pop. She started playing the piano at the age of three and subsequently (after formal tuition) she joined the United States Navy recruiting tour during World War II. In the late forties she played the Chicago Clubs where she became known as a torch singer. In the 1950s her career reached its peak with several charting hit records including Fire Down Below and a number which can be heard “live” on this CD An Occasional Man. Jeri died of pneumonia in Los Angeles in 1991 at the age of sixty four. Saxophonist Charlie Barnet led one of the best bands during the Swing Era. He was born to wealthy parents but was a loose canon in the music world preferring a more serious and intelligent style to most popular music of his day, which he saw as corn or syrupy. Charlie died on the 4th of September 1991 leaving the world a legacy of wonderful jazz music.