Issue Three

Jazz singer Shirley Horn, who celebrated her 67th birthday in May, should be declared a national treasure. At a time when jazz listeners are being regaled by many outstanding female vocalists, Ms. Horn stands at the head of the class. For a long time Ms. Horn was one of jazz’s best kept secrets. But the secret has been out for some time now, and if you haven’t been bitten by the Shirley Horn bug yet, it’s time you succumbed.

Shirley’s career got an early jump-start in 1961 when jazz legend Miles Davis heard an obscure recording by her and insisted she be his opening act for a Village Vanguard engagement. She complied with much trepidation. A recording contract with the Mercury label quickly followed and resulted in a couple of albums where Shirley was cast in a pop/jazz mold, dominated at the time by Peggy Lee and Nat Cole, two of her major inspirations. Shirley, however, was not pleased with the results because Mercury’s executives decided to showcase only her vocal talents, ignoring her formidable pianistic skills.

By the time Shirley’s Mercury contract expired, the dominance of rock music in America discouraged her. She retreated to her native Washington, D.C., and decided to concentrate on raising her daughter. A couple of albums recorded during her sabbatical caused little stir. Then in 1987, Ms. Horn signed with the newly resurrected Verve label and produced two LP’s that alerted jazz lovers to her unique talents. The first album, entitled I Thought About You, was recorded live at the Vine St. Bar and Grill in Hollywood, followed by Close Enough For Love, both recorded with her regular rhythm section of bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams. In both these endeavors Ms. Horn was finally able to display her skills at the keyboard as well as her vocal talents.

In 1990 she recorded an album that would not only include a stellar list of guest artists but also land her TV appearances on Good Morning, America, and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The CD, aptly entitled You Won’t Forget Me, was a tasteful blend of ballads and swinging tunes that featured Miles Davis on the title track and solos by the Marsalis brothers and harmonica wizard Toots Thielemans.

Two years later, Shirley Horn was able to enter the recording studio with a dream team of associates to record the album that would become an outstanding commercial success as well as a defining artistic achievement. Here’s To Life is a near perfect combination of repertoire, arranger and performer and deserves the kind of adulation accorded to such vocal benchmarks as Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin or any of the great recordings of Ella, Sarah or Carmen. The CD was the best-selling jazz release of 1992 and won a Grammy Award for arranger Johnny Mandel, Shirley’s personal choice for this project.

Here’s To Life begins with the title track and ends with a breathtaking version of “Estate,” an import that had been associated with Brazilian troubadour Joao Gilberto, sung in the original Italian. Shirley’s lyric- in English- was written especially for her by critic Joel Siegel, her number one fan. Three numbers composed by Mandel are also engaging and include the well-known “A Time for Love,” the seldom-heard and perfectly entrancing “Quietly There,” and the achingly beautiful “Where Do You Start?” with a Marilyn and Alan Bergman lyric to die for.

 Except for a medium tempo number placed about midway through the collection, the mood is subdued, romantic and melancholy throughout. In the hands of a lesser artist, the CD would become cloying. But Shirley maintains her magic from beginning to end. Mandel’s arrangements are exquisite, and pianist Alan Broadbent adds a perfect flavor to the mix.

The unprecedented acceptance of Here’s To Life – both commercially and critically- gave Shirley Horn the confidence to trust her own instincts to create future albums without the big-ticket arrangers and string sections. What followed was an album a year with various guest soloists from Shirley’s long list of friends and admirers plus her personal rhythm section. These CD’s included a tribute to blues icon Ray Charles and an homage to her beloved Miles Davis. Worthy projects all; yet, none of these efforts has come close to the success or excellence of Here’s to Life.

That is probably why Ms. Horn decided eight years later to enlist the services of arranger Johnny Mandel once more for her latest project released in 2001. The new CD, entitled You’re My Thrill, pays tribute to Peggy Lee by including five of Ms. Lee’s signature songs. Though the formula sounds ideal for a repeat of Shirley’s landmark album of eight years ago, the new CD does not measure up to Here’s To Life.

You’re My Thrill will remind fans of Ms. Horn’s 1992 effort as it begins with the gossamer sounds of Mandel’s strings and Shirley singing the title song even slower than Peggy Lee’s concept of it. But, rather than attempting to sustain the mood of the opener, Horn and Mandel choose a commercially safer approach by alternating ballads with up-tempo numbers. The result is pleasant but unimpressive.

Shirley Horn’s way with a ballad rests essentially in her insistence on slowing time almost to a standstill, singing at no tempo at all. Words and music seem to float motionless. This trait is at the heart of Here’s To Life. But in her latest CD, Ms. Horn has carried this device to the breaking point, particularly on the title track and on “My Heart Stood Still.”

Peggy Lee’s renditions of both these songs were also slow, but Shirley’s versions sound interminable. There is one outstanding number on the album, a new song called “Solitary Moon,” composed by Mandel with a lyric by the Bergmans. Shirley is at her best on this selection, weaving a dreamlike spell reminiscent of Here’s To Life. A muted trumpet solo by Carl Saunders adds a perfect touch.

It’s probably unfair to judge an artist’s work by an earlier masterpiece or to expect perfection more than once. But Shirley herself is to blame for raising the bar with Here’s To Life, and her future efforts are going to be measured by that CD whether she likes it or not. All of Shirley Horn’s recordings deserve repeated listening, simply because she is a consummate artist who never gives less than a hundred percent to every project.

Whether she is capable of achieving the same level of excellence demonstrated in Here’s To Life is uncertain. But it is obvious that, at age 67, Shirley Horn shows no signs of slowing down and that each succeeding CD will further insure her position among the handful of legendary jazz vocalists whose fame is timeless.