Frances Wayne

Vocalist Frances Wayne recorded with the bands of Charlie Barnet and Woody Herman before joining a band formed by her husband, Neal Hefti (another Herman alum), beginning in the mid-'40s. Born in 1924, Wayne moved to New York as a teenager and sang with a group led by her brother, the saxophonist Nick Jerret. Shortly thereafter she began working with tenor saxophonist Charlie Barnet's band, recording a version of "That Old Black Magic" in 1942. She joined Woody Herman's big band -- Herman's Herd -- the next year. While with Herman, Wayne married arranger/trumpeter Neil Hefti,...