Shirley Horn and Me…

What I remember first in my life is playing the piano. That's when I was four years old. I'd go to my grandmother's home. She had a parlor with a great big piano. The parlor was for company, and it was closed off with French doors. It was always cold, but I didn't want to do anything but just go in there and sit on the piano stool. I wasn't interested in playing with the kids outside. After several years of this my grandmother told my mother to get me lessons.
Shirley Horn

Travelin’ Light (1965) signed by Shirley Horn — ***Travelin’ Light (1965)*** signed by Shirley Horn

My family loved music and there was always music around from the greatest singers and bands. Usually, I just learned the songs my mother used to sing around the home. I would ask her, 'What's the name of this one, what's the name of that one?' because I'd have the melody in my mind. I remember hearing Peggy Lee singing 'Why Don't You Do Right.' In fact, probably 75 percent of the songs I do are ones I heard at home.
Shirley Horn

Live At Vine Street (1987) signed by Shirley Horn — ***Live At Vine Street (1987)*** signed by Shirley Horn

Born in Washington, DC in 1934, Shirley Horn was classically trained as a pianist and, after graduating from Howard University, she settled in the Washington DC area. Miles Davis heard her debut Embers And Ashes (1961), was smitten, and had her open for him at the Village Vanguard which garnered critical acclaim. That led to four albums released from 1961-1965 which were largely forgotten and Shirley's career stalled. By her own volition, Shirley spent the next fifteen years raising her daughter in Washington DC and playing in small, local clubs, far from the madding crowd.

Shirley, an incredibly gifted pianist and ballad singer, combined Bill Evans’ elegant lyricism with Nat King Cole’s exquisite phrasing. Her rebirth started when she signed with Verve Records in 1987 which began a resurgence in her recording output. She received seven straight Grammy nominations and won a Grammy in 1998 for I Remember Miles, her tribute to Miles Davis. Three of her albums went to Number One on the Billboard jazz charts and she released fourteen albums from 1987-2005. Quite a remarkable renaissance indeed.

I saw Shirley Horn many times and I was always struck by how prodigious her talent was and, despite selling out concert halls in Japan and Europe, she was playing small clubs in the United States. For many years, Shirley was a regular at One Step Down, 2517 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington DC’s West End at the edge of Georgetown. Shirley called it "the best little jazz joint." I called it a dive. One Step Down was small, maybe a capacity of sixty, and when you entered off Pennsylvania Avenue, you would take one step down and walk into the club. The piano was set up to the left, a quartet at most could fit on what passed for a bandstand, and then a long mahogany bar, probably forty feet to the end of the narrow, rectangle room with restrooms in the back.

Cloaked in anonymity, One Step Down was a windowless, smoke filled drinkers hideaway. Far from prying eyes, it was the perfect place for a rendezvous, an assignation or a dalliance. It was the kind of place where a thirty nine year old Jerry Seinfeld might take an eighteen year old Shoshanna Lonstein (who had just enrolled in nearby George Washington University) for a quiet afternoon drink in 1993. And he did, I just missed them. I was there on a research project or something, but I also saw great jazz artists perform there over the years including Herb Ellis, James Moody, David "Fathead" Newman, Lee Konitz and Phil Woods.

The halcyon days of Jerry and Shoshanna (circa 1993)

Shirley performed there many times in the 1980s and 1990s, and Erin and I saw a New Years Eve show in 1990. It was a wonderful performance, and Shirley was riveting as she played flawlessly with Charles Ables on bass and Steve Williams on drums, her accompanists for twenty plus years. She was gracious when she signed the albums but so shy and self effacing. Shirley's magnetism onstage belied her reticence offstage. She wore dark tinted glasses and seemed to want to be invisible.

A couple of years later, I saw the magnificent jazz vocalist Carmen McRae perform at Blues Alley. At the table next to me sat Shirley. Carmen was an old friend, and despite Carmen's entreaties from the stage, coaxing Shirley to perform with her, Shirley remained unmoved. After the show, Carmen visited with Shirley at her table and they laughed like the close friends they were.

The Great American Songbook (1972) signed by Carmen — ***The Great American Songbook (1972)*** signed by Carmen

Near the end of Shirley's brilliant career, she garnered some well deserved praise and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City among other celebrated venues. The critical and commercial success was a just reward for an artist of incomparable beauty and taste.

Here's to Shirley's Life!

Choice Shirley Horn Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTv3TONfTTQ

“Here’s To Life” Here’s To Life 1992

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm25D0ri-c0&list=RDcm25D0ri-c0&start_radio=1

“You Won’t Forget Me” with Miles Davis 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOrfO6K27eA

“Yesterday” May The Music Never End 2003

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to_fMpf5G6o

“Fever” Marciac Festival 1998

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYoICbB3HZs&list=PLi7_TX572Ipj7VEhW2QitDS4MpXry2f37

“Come In From The Rain” The Main Ingredient 1995