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Steve Williams - drums, Charlie Able - bass
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I loved Shirley Horn with a passion. I've played her music over and over and over again as I can never get enough. When in my abode, on the weekends especially, I would put on her music and feel such a sense of love and comfort with her music streaming through the air. My favorite relaxation CD by her is "Here's to Life." It's a masterpiece, so beautiful, so full of love, and so indicative of the rich and beautiful life she obviously had lived to be able to deliver such wonderful music. She was pure love.
I miss her, Ester Phillips, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington, Billy Holiday, and the Great Ella Fitzgerald so much; and am so happy to still have the Great Nancy Wilson, and Shirley Bassie with us among the Queens of Music still with us. These ladies were all introduced to me as a child by my Mom, who had a beautiful voice too. These ladies are the epitome of class, talent, poise and love as was my Mom. The younger women need to study these great world class ladies who happen to have been [and some still are] the best singing and performing artists in the world, and are and were all class act ladies. They were/are pure love.
Beautiful arrangement ! However I think one cannot agree with her statement not being a jazzsinger, infact she's a tipical jazzsinger with remarkable musicianship and good taste !
My first pro gig was with Shirley Horn. I was young and didn't the full magnitude of her stardom. I learned quick and have always felt so honored.
kam
Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 in Washington, D.C. – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist.
Horn collaborated with many jazz greats including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with nearly incomparable independence and ability on the piano while singing, something described by arranger Johnny Mandel as "like having two heads", and for her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, which was described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as "like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice". Although she could swing as strongly as any straight-ahead jazz artist, Horn's reputation rode on her exquisite ballad work.
Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music. Horn was offered a place at the Juilliard School, but her family could not afford to send her there. Horn formed her first Jazz piano trio when she was twenty. Horn's early piano influences were Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, and moving away from her classical background, Horn later said that "Oscar Peterson became my Rachmaninov, and Ahmad Jamal became my Debussy." ] She then became enamored with the famous U Street jazz area of Washington (largely destroyed in the 1968 riots), sneaking into jazz clubs before she was of legal age.
Horn first achieved fame in 1960, when Miles Davis "discovered" her. Davis' praise had particular resonance in two respects, one because he was so highly respected as a musician, and two because he rarely had anything positive to publicly offer about any musician at that time. Shirley had, though, recorded several songs with violinist Stuff Smith in 1959 both as a pianist and a singer. After her discovery by Davis, she recorded albums on different small labels in the early 1960s, eventually landing contracts with larger labels Mercury Records and Impulse Records. She was popular with jazz critics, but did not achieve significant popular success.
Quincy Jones attempted to make Horn into a pure vocalist in several recording sessions, something he later hinted may have been a mistake. Horn was also disturbed by the changes in popular music in the 1960s following the arrival of The Beatles, and stated "I will not stoop to conquer" in largely rejecting efforts to remake her into a popular singer. From the late-1960s, she concentrated on raising her daughter Rainy with her husband, Shepherd Deering (whom she had married in 1955), and largely limited her performances to her native Washington, D.C., while she often worked full-time as an office worker.
Preferring to perform in small settings, as with her trio, she recorded with orchestra too, as on the 1992 album Here's to Life, which is highly rated by her fans, the title song (lyrics by Phyllis Molinary, music by Artie Butler) being generally considered as her signature song. Arranger Johnny Mandel won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) for that album. A video documentary of Horn's life and music was released at the same time as "Here's To Life" and shared its title. At the time, Mandel commented that Horn's piano skill was comparable to that of the noted jazz great Bill Evans. A follow-up was made in 2001, named You're My Thrill.
Shirley Horn kept for twenty five years the same rhythm section: Charles Ables (bass) and Steve Williams (drums). Don Heckman wrote in the Los Angeles Times (February 2, 1995) about "the importance of bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams to Horn's sound. Working with boundless subtlety, following her every spontaneous twist and turn, they were the ideal accompanists for a performer who clearly will tolerate nothing less than perfection".
Due to health problems in the early 2000s, Horn had to cut back on her appearances. After 2002, a foot amputation (from complications of diabetes) forced her to leave the piano playing to pianist George Mesterhazy.
In late 2004, Horn felt able to play piano again, and recorded a live album for Verve, at Manhattan's Au Bar with trumpet player Roy Hargrove, which did not satisfy her. It remains unreleased except for three tracks on But Beautiful - The Best of Shirley Horn.
She had been battling breast cancer and diabetes when she died of a massive stroke, aged 71. She is interred at Ft. Lincoln Cemetery in Washington, D.C
Photo from my dad's scrapbook. My dear friend Shirley Horn sitting on the far right and my father GeorgeV Johnson Sr sitting 2 seats from her. (Shaw Jr School Choir 8th grade - about 1943) They were very fond of each other while growing up.
Shirley Horn was a personal friend and mentor. We shared many beautiful moments together on and off stage. Very instrumental in my career when I first started singing jazz @ the Pigfoot...a jazz club located on Rhode Island Avenue owned and operated by guitarist Bill Harris and his wife Fanny.
Both the late John Malachi and Shirley took me under their wings. Funny thing ...when she first took over the workshop she saw my name on the list she said George V Johnson Jr...hey is your dad George V Johnson? When I responded yes. She said don't go nowhere after the workshop and the wanted talk to me.. she later stated during the conversation that she loved my father in school and that she was almost my mother. When she was sick I visited her at the hospital, kissed her, sang our favorite song "Summertime" and said goodbye as she laid there in a deep coma. I know she heard me because as I held her hand I felt her squeezed it. One day later she passed. I sang the "Lord's Prayer" at her funeral... I'm so glad she came into my life. I love Shirley Horn. She was my friend...Tears of joy~~~ George V Johnson Jr
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Looking forward to this Sunday Serenade come Sunday April 24th, when VTY Jazz pays their respects to trombonist Benny Powell. All of this will be going down live at the fabulous Cutting Room and just to pull your coats, their will be no squares allowed �de42. If your Hip you know the deal and where to be come Sunday April 24th. Reservations are strongly suggested, 917-882-9539. April is Jazz Appreciation month, but for the Hip, Jazz appreciation is 24/7 twelve months a year. If your not Hip you need to get Hip quick because you're missing some great music and vibes. Hope to see you live and in-person at the Cutting Room on April 24th.
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The DC Jazz Festival in collaboration with the Howard University Department of Music is presenting jazz pianist Orrin Evans in a 3 day jazz residency beginning on March 15-17, 2022.
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