Jeri Southern - Dream's on Jeri (CD)

All Music Guide

Jasmine Records has culled 22 songs from live performances, radio broadcasts, transcriptions and other "irregular" sources by the very fine vocalist/pianist Jeri Southern. Southern, the epitome of a singer from the cool school, was a major Decca, Roulette and Capitol recording artist during the 1950s before she got fed up with the companies' AR types trying to make her a pop star...and simply quit. The playlist on this collection is a mixed bag, as it often was with Southern's releases. From time to time, she got trapped into singing some really trite material; a prime example on this album is "It Must Be True," where the best thing one can say is that every effort was made to have a pleasant rhyming metier. Fortunately, most of the playlist, if not all familiar standards, are listenable and enjoyable as rendered by Southern. There are also tunes closely associated with the languid Southern style, like two versions of her signature tune "You Better Go Now." On the first, she accompanie...s herself on piano, and on the second, she is backed by an orchestra headed by Jerry Gray. Both use considerably different arrangements than her classic Decca recording from the mid-1950s. The title tune, "This Time the Dream's on Me," not only features her excellent phrasing and respect for lyrics, but her very good, understated piano playing as well. Southern could at times sound fragile and startled like a doe, and sardonic other times, her mood depending on the song; Noel Coward's "Mad About the Boy" is endowed with all the irony befitting the composer/dramatist's tune, while her fragility emerges on "I Thought of You Last Night" and "Something I Dreamed Last Night." Southern could also swing; listen to her bounce on "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," "It's D'Lovely" and "Married I Can Always Get," where she's helped along by male backup singers. She also goes Latin on "We're Not Children Anymore." Overall, The Dream's on Jeri is a blue-ribbon compilation of performances by a singer whose star shone far too briefly. Listeners are warned that there are a few instances where there's some background noise. This is understandable given the source of the material and is not a major distraction. - Dave Nathan, All Music Guide Read more Less