Shirley Horn, the great jazz singer-pianist, died last night after a long illness. Here‘s the first obit to hit the blogosphere–there’ll be more soon. In the meantime, celebrate her life by listening to the album that first brought her to the attention of the general public.
This is what I wrote for the Washington Post the last time I saw Horn live, at New York’s Iridium in 2003:
To Washingtonians, Horn is an old friend, but up here in Second City, she’s an Event. None of my friends can remember the last time she sang in a Manhattan nightclub. Her engagement was all the more eventful in light of the fact that it was something of a comeback. Insiders knew that chronic illness had put her in a wheelchair and stopped her from playing piano. It was impossible to imagine anyone else playing for the best self-accompanist in jazz, so when the word got out that she was coming to town, fans marked their calendars, not sure whether to be excited or nervous.
I felt both ways as I waited and waited for Horn to show up. She was a half-hour late, and I was close enough to the bandstand to overhear the members of her trio (including George Mesterhazy on piano, who carried out his unenviable task with skill and discretion) wondering out loud whether she’d go through with it. Finally, she materialized in the wings, and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief as she was wheeled into place, followed in half a heartbeat by a standing ovation. It was quite an opening–and quite a show. Horn sang in a near-whisper, the whole room leaning on every syllable. “I Got Lost in His Arms” was sly and lustful, “Here’s to Life” almost hurtfully poignant. As for “Yesterdays,” I can’t even begin to tell you what it was like to hear her utter the line “I’m not half the girl I used to be.” All I can say is that you could have heard a tear drop–and plenty did, mine included. I dined with three jazz singers a couple of weeks later, and it turned out that they’d all been to see Shirley Horn, and couldn’t talk about anything else. I don’t know when I’ve heard anything scarier or braver, or more beautiful….
I miss her already.
UPDATE: Go here for more from NPR, including sound bites and links.
Here‘s the bio posted by the National Endowment for the Arts after Horn won one of the 2005 Jazz Masters Fellowships.
The Washington Post beat the New York Times to the Web by a day with its staff-written obit. (Ben Ratliff’s Times obit is here.) Also of interest is this appreciation by the Post‘s Richard Harrington.
Here’s a tribute from the Bad Plus.