Irving Berlin once called her the “Queen Of Tin Pan Alley”. Today, she is barely remembered. She was responsible for several hit songs, although now, only a few are still performed. Nevertheless, her works have been recorded by such legends as Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby, and Betty Carter, and such present-day musical superstars as Kurt Elling and Queen Latifah. She lived to be 98 years old, and her name was Bernice Petkere. Her most often performed song, though written way back in 1933, has a strangely modern sound to it; an air of melodic edginess that seems to transcend it’s jazz-age origins. As the years roll forward, Bernice Petcare’s “Close Your Eyes” seems to become better and better known, and is probably performed more frequently today than ever before. Here’s Minnesota’s Voice Connie Evingson to add another exciting rendition….

Irving Berlin once called her the “Queen Of Tin Pan Alley”. Today, she is barely remembered. She was responsible for several hit songs, although now, only a few are still performed. Nevertheless, her works have been recorded by such legends as Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby, and Betty Carter, and such present-day musical superstars as Kurt Elling and Queen Latifah. She lived to be 98 years old, and her name was Bernice Petkere. Her most often performed song, though written way back in 1933, has a strangely modern sound to it; an air of melodic edginess that seems to transcend it’s jazz-age origins. As the years roll forward, Bernice Petcare’s “Close Your Eyes” seems to become better and better known, and is probably performed more frequently today than ever before. Here’s Minnesota’s Voice Connie Evingson to add another exciting rendition….