Rare footage of Shirley Horn in Holland in 1981. I think this was from the North Sea Jazz Festival. Nine minutes of Shirley Horn makes me very happy.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

I selected “The Secret of Christmas” by Shirley Horn because I love Ms. Horn and it reminds us that the things we do on Christmas, we should do all year. Give love! Spread love!

I am enjoying a quiet Christmas this year. I will be working on my Christmas cards tonight and listening to good music. I skipped Christmas brunch, went grocery shopping and picked up Chinese takeout. I hope you and yours have had a wonderful Christmas.

Great music is coming our way to close out and welcome in the New Year. The incredible Dianne Reeves will be at Yoshi’s San Francisco from Thursday (12/30) through Saturday (1/1.) In the East Bay, the sensational Lalah Hathaway will be at Yoshi’s Oakland from Thursday (12/30) through Sunday (1/2.) The tickets are selling fast so get yours soon.

A bit of Shirley Horn for your Sunday. Enjoy!

Oh happy day!!!

Last month, Shirley Horn’s first album, “Embers and Ashes” recorded in 1960 and her “Where Are You Going” album, which was released in 1972, were reissued on a 2 LP on 1 CD reissue on Fresh Sounds Records. I have been waiting for “Embers and Ashes” to be released on CD since I first heard it a few years ago. “Where Are You Going” had been previously released on CD but “Embers and Ashes” had only been available on vinyl until now.

Both albums are definitely a great additions for anyone who loves the music of Shirley Horn.

Flashback Friday Post on “Embers and Ashes”

Album info and track listings:

http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/songs_of_lost_love_sung_by_shirley_horn_2_lps_on_1_cd-cd-5428.html

Track listing:

01. Like Someone in Love (2:30)
02. He Never Mentioned Love (3:19)
03. Softly As in a Morning Sunrise 3:20)
04. I Thought About You (3:02)
05. Mountain Greenery (2:16)
06. God Bless the Child (3:38)
07. Blue City (3:32)
08. Day by Day (2:32)
09. If I Should Lose You (3:20)
10. Wild Is the Wind (3:42)
11. Come Rain or Come Shine (2:53)
12. Just in Time (2:07)
13. Where Are You Going (4:25)
14. Something Happens to Me (2:12)
15. Come on Home (2:32)
16. Do It Again (7:06)
17. The Eagle and Me (3:22)
18. Taste of Honey (5:42)
19. L.A. Breakdown (4:48)
20. Consequences of a Drug Addict Role (6:03)

Total time: 73:00 min.

LP Sources:
Tracks #1-12 from the 12″ LP
“Embers and Ashes”
(Stere-O-Craft #16)

Tracks #13-20 from the 12″ LP
“Where Are You Going”
(Perception Records Stereo PLP 31)

Personnel on “Embers and Ashes” :
Shirley Horn (vcl & p), Joe Benjamin (b), Herb Lovelle (d). Lewis Packer, and Harry Saunders, replace Benjamin & Lovelle on #8.
Recorded in New York City, 1960.

Personnel on “Where Are You Going” :
Shirley Horn (vcl & p), Marshall T. Harris (b), Bernard Sweetney (d) and Al Gafa (g, except on #13, 18, 20).
Recorded in New York City, 1972.

This CD compilation produced by Jordi Pujol.

24-Bit Digitally Remastered

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, I searched my music collection and found 24 versions of the Rodgers and Hart classic gem,”My Funny Valentine” which was first featured in the Broadway musical “Babe in Arms” in 1937.

Below are the versions of “My Funny Valentine” in my music collection. Notably, on the Frank Sinatra/Lorrie Morgan duet, Frank sings “My Funny Valentine” while Lorrie sings “How Do You Keep The Music Playing.” Also, Tracy Hamlin is the featured vocalist on Pieces of a Dream’s Love’s Silohuette album. My favorite renditions? I will give you three guesses…lol!!!

Ahmad Jamal – Complete Live At The Pershing Lounge 1958
Anita Baker – Rhythm Of Love
Bill Henderson – His Complete Vee Jay Recordings – Vol. 1
Chaka Khan – Waiting To Exhale Movie Soundtrack
Chet Baker – My Funny Valentine
Cyrus Chestnut – Another Direction
Cyrus Chestnut – The Dark Before The Dawn
Dakota Staton – The Late, Late Show
Dianne Reeves – The Palo Alto Sessions 1981-1985
Ella Fitzgerald – The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books
Etta James – Time After Time
Frank Sinatra/Lorrie Morgan – Duets 2
Hank Jones – The Great Jazz Trio Autumn Leaves
Herbie Hancock – The Piano
Jamie Davis – It’s A Good Thing
McCoy Tyner – Live At Newport
Miles Davis – My Funny Valentine
Oscar Peterson – Tenderly (1958)
Pieces Of A Dream – Love’s Silhouette
Rachelle Ferrell – First Instrument
Rachelle Ferrell – Live In Montreux 91-97
Roy Hargrove Big Band – Emergence
Shirley Horn – I Remember Miles
Sarah Vaughan – Jazz After Dark (Disc 2)

Update: My music buddy TGrundy posted a tasty selection of “My Funny Valentine” versions over at his site, Rhythms In Black Satin. Check him out.

Taped for McPartland’s National Public Radio program in December 1984, three years before the release of I Thought About You, Horn’s breakthrough album for Verve, the 55-minute session is a musical delight. The two women quickly establish a warm and mirthful rapport punctuated with more than a few contagious belly laughs.

Horn has three vocal features (”I Could Have Told You,” “Violets…,” “There’s No You”), and finds common ground with McPartland as they duet on three “dirty old blues” (”Billie’s Bounce,” “Cherry,” “Shirley’s Blues”) and a slice of Ellingtonia (”Love You Madly”). The women’s unabashed mutual admiration and sterling musicianship make this document all the more precious in light of Shirley Horn’s passing just four months ago, at the age of 71.

This is one of the best quotes that describe the magic of Shirley Horn’s music. The past few weeks have definitely been an education for me in Shirley Horn’s music. Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support on this project. Preparing the final disc in My Shirley Horn Box Set was quite a challenge because her music pulls me in every direction. I thought about doing all ballads for the last disc but I like mixing her swinging tunes with her signature ballads. I originally wanted to put just 15 songs on each radio blog but as I would create the playlist, another song would pop in my head that I would just have to include. I created this playlist a few weeks ago so I would at least have a framework in place. I knew which songs I wanted to begin and end with but it was the selection of the songs in between start and finish that kept me scratching my head. Over the course of this adventure, I have managed to pull at least one song from almost every Shirley Horn CD I own. Hopefully, more of her music will be released from the vaults especially her first album, Embers and Ashes, which recently sold for $177.50 on eBay. I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have enjoy sharing it. If I have missed one of your favorites, don’t worry for I will be sharing more of Shirley’s music in future radio blogs. Now sit back in your home or cubicle, turn the lights down low and enjoy the “whispery voice that conjured cashmere and cognac”, Ms. Shirley Valerie Horn.

My Shirley Horn Box Set – Disc 4 (listen here!)

01 – Shirley Horn – “The Music That Makes Me Dance” from You Won’t Forget Me (1991) – There is a natural build to a Shirley Horn ballad that is demonstrated here. She introduces the verse and each time she repeats it, there is a little more intensity until it reaches the boiling point but she never breaks a sweat. Just as quickly she brings the fire back down to simmer without missing a beat.

02 – Shirley Horn – “Come Dance With Me” from You Won’t Forget Me (1991) – This is the companion song to “The Music That Makes Me Dance.” The pairing of the two songs is quite exquisite. Shirley originally recorded this song on her Shirley Horn with Horns album released in 1963.

03 – Shirley Horn – “Green(It’s Not Easy Being Green)” from Light Out of Darkness: A Tribute to Ray Charles (1993) – We commonly know this as the “Kermit the Frog” song but Shirley was inspired to record it after hearing Ray Charles sing it. From the liner notes she says: “I didn’t pay too much attention to it until I heard Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street do it then I heard Ray do it. It was then when I started to think about the lyric”, recalls the singer. “Look at my house – it’s green, but it’s not just because I love the color green. The lyric goes: ‘Green is the color of the leaves/Green can be cool and friendly-like/Green is big like a mountain, deep like the ocean and tall like a tree/Green is all there is to be.’ Why not be green? I listen to the lyrics because they are so important to me – because I’m green.”

04 – Shirley Horn – “That Old Black Magic” from Loads of Love + Shirley Horn with Horns (1963) – I love the way this song fades in with Shirley’s sultry vocals over a very nice bossa nova groove.

05 – Shirley Horn – “How Long Has This Been Going On” from Softly (1988) – For this beautiful ballad, Shirley chose to sing an alternate lyric that was written for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the 1957 movie “Funny Face.”

06 – Shirley Horn – “I’m Old Fashioned” from A Lazy Afternoon (1978) – This swinging tune comes from her first of four albums for SteepleChase. It features Buster Williams on bass and Billy Hart on drums.

07 – Shirley Horn – “So I Love You” from Close Enough for Love (1989) – This was the premiere of this song with music and lyrics by Carroll Coates, who wrote “London by Night” and the lyric for Peter Nero’s “Sunday in New York” (which Shirley recorded on her Travelin’ Light album.)

08 – Shirley Horn – “I Just Found Out About Love” from You Won’t Forget Me (1991) – Another swinging tune from this great album. Shirley accompanies herself on piano incredibly well but that is a given (big grin!!)

09 – Shirley Horn – “A Taste of Honey” from Where Are You Going? (1972) – This song opens showcasing Shirley classical training then shifts to a rhythm that is reminiscent of Miles Davis’ “All Blues” and closes with a quiet verse that is as sweet as honey.

10 – Shirley Horn – “You’d Be So Nice To Home To” from All Night Long (1981) – Shirley and her trio recorded this Cole Porter tune at the Northsea Jazz Festival in Holland.

11 – Shirley Horn – “In The Dark” from Loving You (1997) – The last time I saw Shirley in concert earlier this year, she paid tribute to Ray Charles with a spirited version of this song.

12 – Shirley Horn – “Just In Time” from I Love You, Paris (1994) – The piano intro on this jaunty tune is very similar to “Nice ‘n’ Easy.” Shirley recorded this song during her 2 and 1/2 hour concert at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France on March 7, 1992.

13 – Shirley Horn – “I Wanna Be Loved” from Close Enough for Love (1989) – Shirley smolders on this Johnny Green-Billy Rose-Edward Heyman standard. She sings “I feel like acting my age. I’m past the stage of merely turtledoving.”Now can someone tell what “turtledoving” means? I imagine it to be one of those polite words of the golden age to describe romance.

14 – Shirley Horn – “Our Love Is Here To Stay” from I Thought About You: Live at Vine St. (1987) – A Gershwin gem from her debut Verve album.

15 – Shirley Horn – “I Got Lost in His Arms” from Your My Thrill (2001) – Shirley orginally recorded this Irving Berlin tune on her Close Enough for Love album. For this rendition, Johnny Mandel clothes her vocals with beautiful orchestration.

16 – Shirley Horn – “Loads of Love” from But Beautiful – The Best of Shirley Horn (2005) – After listening to this song and hearing Shirley say “well, that’s it”, I imagine this to be the closing song for one of her nights of live recording at Au Bar in New York City in January 2005. You can tell she was having a fun time on this tune. She originally recorded this Richard Rodgers song on her Loads of Love album so it is great to hear her fresh take on this classic song.

17 – Shirley Horn – “Dindi” from All of Me (1987) – Shirley handles this Jobim classic with velvet gloves. She also has a beautiful piano solo. This album is a Japanese import and I was able to find it on eBay.

18 – Shirley Horn – “I’ve Got Plenty O’ Nothin’” from I Remember Miles (1998) – Shirley received nine consecutive Grammy nominations for her Verve recordings and received a Grammy for this tribute album to her friend and mentor, Miles Davis. This album includes mostly ballads but Shirley swings here. Roy Hargrove is featured on trumpet.

19 – Shirley Horn – “Blue in Green” from I Remember Miles (1998) – There is poignant moment in this instrumental ballad when Shirley pauses and sings, ” honey from a horn so sweet” which expresses her love for Miles Davis. You could easily imagine her voice as horn.

20 – Shirley Horn – “May The Music Never End” from May the Music Never End (2003) – A very reflective title song that conveys a powerful message, “may the music never end.” It was composed by Artie Butler who also composed “Here’s to Life” which has become Shirley’s signature ballad.
Thank you Shirley!

“I’ve always been a night child, you know,” Horn says. “I’m a romanticist, a very emotional person. The kind of stuff I do is more conducive to late night. We were in California recently, and we had to play at 8 p.m. People were just finishing dinner. And someone asked me for ‘Love for Sale.’ And I said, ‘I can’t do it. Child, I don’t even start talking till 3 or 4, when my husband comes home.’”

My Shirley Horn Box Set – Disc 3 (listen here!)
01 – Shirley Horn – “Hit The Road Jack” from Light Out of Darkness: A Tribute to Ray Charles (1993) – Shirley and her sidemen (The Hornettes) swing on this Ray Charles classic gem.
02 – Shirley Horn – “You’re My Thrill” – from Your My Thrill (2001) – This song came from the 1933 screen comedy “Jimmy and Sally” and was memorably recorded by Billie Holiday. Shirley also recorded this song on her Softly album. Johnny Mandel again provides the rich orchestrations for this album as he did on her Here’s to Life album. This was also the last full length album on which Shirley played piano and recorded with her longtime bassist, Charles Ables, before he died in 2001.
03 – Shirley Horn – “Get Out of Town” from Close Enough for Love (1989) – Shirley swings hard on this Cole Porter song.
04 – Shirley Horn – “Once I Loved” – from Close Enough for Love (1989) – A double dose from this wonderful album. I love the way Shirley interprets a Jobim song. It is romantic and lush.
05 – Shirley Horn – “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” from But Beautiful – The Best of Shirley Horn (2005) – This was one of the live bonus track that Shirley recorded at Au Bar in January 2005 in New York City. You can hear her having a fun time on this Rodgers and Hart classic. I loved her playful laughter at the end of the song when says “I love you” to trumpeter Roy Hargrove who performs an excellent solo here.
06 – Shirley Horn – ” Since I Fell for You” from Softly (1988) – This blues ballad was one of the most requested songs in Shirley’s club appearances. She builds the song into an intense climax. You can hear some influences of Ray Charles here as well.
07 – Shirley Horn – “All or Nothing at All” from The Main Ingredient (1996) – She recorded this album in her Washington, D.C. home in 1995. It features Joe Henderson and Buck Hill on tenor sax, Steve Novosel on bass, and the drum machine, Elvin Jones on drums.
08 – Shirley Horn – “Where Do You Start?” from Shirley Horn with Strings: Here’s to Life (1992) – This is a very beautiful ballad and one of the two songs on this magnificent album where Shirley did not accompany herself. After I did the first radio blog of Shirley’s music, I got an IM one evening from someone asking, “Where is the break up song?” I guess I had always focused on the beauty of the song in spite of its unfortunate outcome.
09 – Shirley Horn – “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from I Love You, Paris (1994) – Shirley originally recorded this song on her Shirley Horn with Horns album which was originally mis-titled Shirley Horn with Horn even though she is holding four horns on the album cover.
10 – Shirley Horn – “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” from Charlie Haden Quartet West: The Art of Song (1999) – This one of the four beautiful ballads that Shirley recorded on Charlie Haden’s album. It is very warm and reflective. I also got my first exposure to vocal crooner Bill Henderson who also recorded several songs on this album.
11 – Shirley Horn – “The Boy From Ipanema” from Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (1996) – Shirley has recorded several Jobim song’s throughout her musical career. His ballads lend perfectly to her amazing use of space and silence in her music. For this album, she sings a swinging rendition of the classic “The Girl from Ipanema” with a little twist on the words to fit her impeccable taste.
12 – Shirley Horn – “You’d Better Go Now” from Glengarry Glen Ross Original Movie Soundtrack (1992) – This is where my love affair with Shirley Horn began. I bought this soundtrack, I played this song over and over, and when she sang “There’s a moon above and it gives my heart a lot of swing. In your eyes, there’s love and the way I feel, it must be spring,” my heart was hers for life. Johnny Mandel arranged and conducted this beautiful song. I was also introduced to the music of Jimmy Scott on this soundtrack.
13 – Shirley Horn – “Mack the Knife” from Loads of Love + Shirley Horn with Horns (1963) – I enjoyed what Shirley did with this Ella Fitzgerald classic.
14 – Shirley Horn – “Yesterday” from May the Music Never End (2003) – In recent years, when Shirley sang this Beatles song in concert, it would silence the room for her style was slow and reflective. She would sing “I’m not half the girl I used to be. There’s a shadow hanging over me.” and it would almost bring you to tears.
15 – Shirley Horn – “Old Country” from I Love You, Paris (1994) – This song was also a concert favorite especially when Shirley put that extra umph on “For don’t nobody neeeeeed no oooold man.” It would definitely make you smile.
16 – Shirley Horn – “Isn’t It A Pity” from Shirley Horn with Strings: Here’s to Life (1992) – Shirley enjoyed being able to tell a story with her music. In this Gershwin ballad, she sings of a romance that has finally comes together after years of these two people living their respective lives.
17 – Shirley Horn – “The Best is Yet to Come” from Your My Thrill (2001) – No one could accompany Shirley on piano better than she could. Nobody.
18 – Shirley Horn – “You Won’t Forget Me” from You Won’t Forget Me (1991) – After many years of mutual admiration, Shirley and Miles collaborated on this prophetic ballad and the result is magical. Their styles and phrasing compliment each other very well. In addition, drummer Steve Williams keeps a steady beat while Charles Ables produces a solid groove on the bass.
Thank you very much for listening and stay tune next week for Disc 4 of My Shirley Horn Box Set, which will complete this wonderful radio blog series.
Enjoy your music!