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, who wrote for the group.
The couple left Herman in 1946, just prior to that band's breakup, and moved to California. In 1947 Wayne recorded as a soloist with Hefti's newly formed big band. She worked in clubs for a time, then curtailed her activities somewhat. She continued to work with Hefti in the early '50s.
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