Shirley Horn

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Shirley Horn (1981)

Shirley Valerie Horn (born May 1, 1934 in Washington DC , † October 20, 2005 in Cheverly , Maryland ) was an American jazz pianist and singer.

Life

Shirley Horn grew up in Washington. Even as a child, she was more interested in playing the piano than in age-typical games. With tenacity, she finally got lessons. At Howard University's Junior School of Music, where she studied classical piano, she founded a jazz trio in the mid-1950s. In 1960 her first album "Embers and Ashes" (Stereo-Craft) was released. Originally she pursued a career as a jazz pianist (with role models such as Ahmad Jamal and Oscar Peterson ). Her debut album got her a lot of attention as a singer. Miles Davis brought her to New York after he heard it and had her perform in his opening act at the Village Vanguard . She took in the 1960s a. a. on several records produced by Quincy Jones (including the Oscar-nominated song For Love of Ivy ), toured in Europe and released a few records, then mainly dedicated to her family in Washington for 10 years and only made occasional appearances in the area . In the 1980s she made a comeback, u. a. with an appearance at the North Sea Jazz Festival 1981. She recorded new records ( Violets for Your Furs ) and toured with her own trio. In 1987 she started working with " Verve Records ".

Horn was nominated for nine Grammy Awards during her career . Her album Here's to Life was the best-selling jazz record in 1992, and arranger Johnny Mandel received a Grammy for it the following year . In 1999 Horn won the Grammy for “Best Jazz Vocal Performance” with I Remember Miles . The album is reminiscent of Miles Davis , who had promoted her since 1961. Davis said of her: "Shirley Horn is the only one who can make me cry with her piano playing and singing." Her musical hallmarks were the skillful slowness, the timing of her pauses and her smoky voice. She worked next to the named u. a. with Kenny Burrell , Hank Jones , Wynton Marsalis , Branford Marsalis , Roy Hargrove and Toots Thielemans .

Shirley Horn last performed at the San Sebastian Jazz Festival in 2004. She had suffered from diabetes for years and died of a stroke in a hospital in Cheverly, not far from Washington DC .

In 2005 she received the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship .

Discography

  • 1965 Travelin 'Light (reissued 2012)
  • 1978 A Lazy Afternoon
  • 1981 All Night Long
  • 1981 Violets for Your Furs
  • 1984 Garden of the Blues
  • 1987 Softly
  • 1987 Live At The Village Vanguard (recorded 1961)
  • 1989 Close Enough for Love
  • 1991 Loads of Love / Shirley Horn with Horns
  • 1991 You Won't Forget Me (with Miles Davis )
  • 1992 Here's to Life (re-released 2009)
  • 1993 Light out of Darkness
  • 1994 I Love You, Paris
  • 1996 The Main Ingredient
  • 1997 Loving You
  • 1998 I Remember Miles
  • 1999 Quiet Now: Come a Little Closer
  • 1999 Ultimate Shirley Horn
  • 2001 You're My Thrill
  • 2003 May the music never end
  • 2009 The Swingin 'Shirley Horn
  • 2016 Live at the 4 Queens

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ according to New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Kunzler Jazzlexikon 2002 states May 1, 1937.
  2. ^ Obituary in the New York Times
  3. ↑ Shirley Horn: You're My Thrill (Jazzecho March 16, 2001)
personal data
SURNAME Horn, Shirley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Horn, Shirley Valerie (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington , DC, USA
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 2005
Place of death Cheverly, Maryland , USA