I grew up in the 1940s and that was the end of the big band era. When I was in high school, we had several of them play at high school proms as they were in decline at the time. I remember listening to records of the female vocalists, especially Margaret Whiting and Jo Stafford. Jo Stafford began in the 1930s as a band singer, at first with Frank Sinatra, and was hugely popular all through the war. Her albums kept coming out when I was in college and my favorite still is Ski Trails. That was the first of the “theme albums” and she and her husband Paul Weston thought it up and brought it out. She died this weekend at 90 and was interviewed two years ago about her career. She had a perfect voice and a great personality to match. Her voice is part of my youth.