Live at the 4 Queens

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Live at the 4 Queens
Live album by Shirley Horn

Publication
(s)

2016

Label (s) Resonance Records

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

9

occupation

production

Zev Feldman

Studio (s)

Four Queens Hotel, Las Vegas

chronology
Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival
(2008) 		Live at the 4 Queens -
Shirley Horn (1981)

Live at the 4 Queens is a jazz album by Shirley Horn that was recorded on May 2, 1988 in the French Quarter Lounge of the Four Queens Hotel, Las Vegas and released on September 16, 2016 on Resonance Records .

background

“As anyone familiar with Horn's history knows,” wrote Christopher Loudon in his review of Live at the 4 Queens , “her career developed steadily from the mid-1950s to the early 60s, but she decided to stop touring and restricted recording in favor of her family and remained semi-retired until the early 1980s. ”In fact, her comeback didn't start until 1986 when she signed a recording deal with Verve . This 54-minute set is captured by Shirley Horn shortly before the beginning of her mighty rise again, one day after her 54th birthday in May 1988, accompanied by her long-time rhythm team consisting of bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams.

"Even during the drought when jazz was on the commercial stage, Las Vegas remained a pretty safe bet for a chanteuse worth getting a casino gig," wrote Derek Taylor. Singer Shirley Horn certainly qualified for it when the material for Live at the 4 Queens was taped in 1988 . The 56-page booklet and 33-minute documentary that Resonance produced (and published here) offers insights into the artist's life and career.

Track list

  • Shirley Horn: Live at the 4 Queens (Resonance Records - HCD-2015)
  1. Hi-Fly (Randy Weston)
  2. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To (Cole Porter)
  3. Meditation (Meditação) ( Antonio Carlos Jobim )
  4. The Boy From Ipanema (Jobim)
  5. Isn't It Romantic ( Rodgers & Hart )
  6. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?) (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez , Jimmy Sherman )
  7. Something Happens to Me (Jack Segal, Marvin Fisher)
  8. Just for a Thrill ( Lil Armstrong , Don Raye )
  9. Blues for Big Scotia ( Oscar Peterson )

reception

The Four Queens Hotel and Casino on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas (1999)

C. Michael Bailey wrote of the singer on All About Jazz : “She, like Miles Davis and Ahmad Jamal, was masterful at maintaining that elusive heartbeat called swing at the slowest tempo . Her ballad treatments can be followed as a common thread through the approaches of Rebecca Parris , Patti Wicks and Sue Sheriff . She was a musical force of nature that moved forward consciously, thoughtfully and soulfully. " Live at the 4 Queens is an" enrichment of your recorded work "; it is "a spirited recital". The author points out that Horn was in excellent health during this time. She presented her ballad skills on “Lover Man”, “You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To” and “Just for a Thrill”, “where the last piece was played just fast enough to keep the pulse of jazz . It's a masterpiece. ”But Shirley Horn is also able to increase the tempo and swing, as she did with“ The Boy from Ipanema ”and a tour de force interpretation of“ Isn't it Romantic ” “Does where she shows her considerable piano skills. The author sums up: "You can never hear enough about Shirley Horn."

Christopher Loudon wrote in JazzTimes that the Four Queens Hotel was one of the few venues in Las Vegas "that has proactively supported jazz artists in their history." Shirley Horns "incomparable style of singing, slow as a snail and soft cashmere, is wonderfully performed in the ballads," so practiced in “Just for a Thrill”, “Lover Man” and Tom Jobim's tender “Meditation” and also in the livelier selection, for example in Cole Poerter's musical song “ You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To ” (1943) or in second Jobim song " The Girl from Ipanema " (1962). But this collection is also a showcase for their instrumental art, including their opening salvo, a cheeky rendition of Randy Weston's "Hi-Fly"; her final statement, Oscar Peterson's lively, seething "Blues for Big Scotia"; and in the middle of it all, a highly imaginative, 10-minute rendition of "Isn't It Romantic?" by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart .

Dave Gelly gave the album four (out of five) stars in the British Guardian and said under the heading, “hypnotically intimate”, “songs on the piano” is one thing, “but singing brilliantly and playing the piano at the same time is something completely different. That's what Shirley Horn did. ”She was rightly hailed for her hypnotically slow and intimate ballads, but she was impressive at any pace. First released in 1988, this live set features six typically subtle examples of their vocals and piano interplay, including the grandly expanded version of the ballad “Lover Man”. There are also two instrumentals that reveal her power as a jazz soloist and her famous relationship with bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams.

Marc Myers ( Jazzwax ) said: “What we learn from this live set is that Horn was primarily a jazz pianist . It's hard to think of another jazz singer who could play the piano so well and so powerfully. Vaughan and McRae could play well, of course, but not with Horn's courage and violence. On the opening track of the new album, an instrumental piece, Horn picks up Randy Weston's 'Hi-Fly' and pushes the song forward the whole way. "As for the rest of the album, Myers said, her vocals are a little thin, although the selection of songs is not particularly exciting. (Myers names “The Boy from Ipanema”, “Lover Man”, “You'd Be So Nice” and “Isn't It Romantic?” As examples). The exception is “Something Happens to Me”, which “conveys a hip, fresh pop feeling”. Another problem is that Charles Ables' good bass playing was mixed too loud and Horn's vocals overwhelmed. "It should be noted that Steve Williams' drums here also go perfectly with Horn."

“Ultimately, you can see on this album,” praised Myers, “that Horn was a talented jazz pianist who could also sing. While listening to the album, I often wondered who behind Horn was playing the excellent piano until I realized it was her - not composing, but actually accompanying her voice. She was so good as a player and a self-companion. If you'd like to hear the wonder of Horn's piano, look for Carmen McRae's [album] Sarah: Dedicated to You , on which McRae sings and is supported by the Shirley Horn Trio, in which Charles Ables (kb) and Steve Williams (dr) perform "It was a shame," Myers said, "that none of the jazz producers Horn met during his career had the idea of ​​only recording them on the piano - even on a solo piano. While Horn's voice was intimate, she played more. What an album that would have been! "

Derek Taylor wrote in Dusted that Randy Weston's “Hi Fly” was the instrumental opener, and Horn let any doubt about her piano playing be raised with a powerful rendition of the gaudy, rolling melody supported by her regular rhythm section Ables / Williams. In “You'd Be So Nic to Come Home To” the tempo slows down to a casual stroll, with Williams switching to the broom and Horn intoning the amorous lyrics with a knowing looseness of coquette. With the Brazilian "meditation" the style changes again, the first of several ballads that Horn is a preferred element. Ables 'reinforcement is particularly noticeable in the open environment compared to Williams' bossa nova beat, “but Horn's wistful phrasing remains unswerving in his careful construction of an emotional reflection framed by loneliness. The gender freedoms assumed with 'The Boy from Ipanema' threaten to nullify an already suspicious selection, but Horn makes it possible by playing the whole thing directly and building up the wind-up anthem with a playful and resilient shower. "

The Four Queens Hotel by Night (2009)

“As good as Horn's piano sounds in the opening numbers, the ten-minute interpretation of 'Isn't It Romantic', which is noticeably fun, blossoms full of her talent. Ables and Williams are active on their flanks and press their skilful right hand on a series of elegant flourishes that never deviate from the melody and yet sound fresh and free of artificiality. Everyone is rewarded with solo parts that turn out to be more laborious than downright inspiring. 'Lover Man' and 'Something Happens to Me' direct the set back to quieter and more intimate ballads, but even when the flame is comparatively low, Horn leaves nothing out that the audience may like. "

Bobby Reed said in Down Beat that the new album by Shirley Horn (1934-2005) was a glorious "fourth act" for the celebrated singer / pianist after her debut in 1960 ( Embers and Ashes ) and her attempt to set foot in the jazz world Act II, in which Horn was devoted to family life, and Act III, which had many commercial and critical highs, beginning with 1987's I Thought About You: Live at Vine St. and their Grammy for 1998 CD I Remember Miles . The fourth act meant a phase of rediscovery that would get a foundation from Live at the 4 Queens . According to the car, the highlight of the album is Rodgers & Hart's classic "Isn't it Romantic?"; the ten-minute instrumental version on 4 queens is "a terrific vehicle for Horn's decisive, swinging" piano style. The final melody, in which Horn inserts dramatic pauses in her piano lines and vocal performance, illustrates how Horn's unique attraction lay in how playing and singing complemented each other so elegantly. This program of previously unpublished material ends with an instrumental hype through Oscar Peterson's “Blues For Big Scotia”.

In the National Public Radio's Jazz Critics Poll , the album came ninth in the Rara Avis category at the end of 2016; The winner was the album In Paris: The ORTF Recordings by Larry Young .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Christopher Loudon: Shirley Horn - Live at the 4 Queens. JazzTimes, September 1, 2016, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c Derek Taylor: Shirley Horn: Live at the 4 Queens. October 2, 2016, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b Bobby Reed: Shirley Horn: Live at the 4 Queens. Down Beat, October 1, 2016, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  4. ↑ C. Michael Bailey: Shirley Horn - Live at the 4 Queens. All About Jazz, September 5, 2016, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Dave Gelly: Shirley Horn: Live at the 4 Queens - review - hypnotically intimate. The Guardian, October 9, 2016, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  6. ^ A b Marc Myers: Shirley Horn: Live at the 4 Queens. Jazzwax, October 6, 2016, accessed on March 28, 2019 .
  7. ^ Francis Davis: The 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. NPR, December 21, 2016, accessed March 31, 2019 .