Shirley Horn 'But Beautiful: The Best Of Shirley Horn' album

Ms. Shirley Horn, the quintessentially seasoned enchantress of song, has been whirling listeners through the windmills of their minds for four-and-a-half decades of unforgettable music. Her intimate, relaxed delivery and heart-piercing repertoire are completely captivating, making hearts and time stand still in a blissful suspension of disbelief…because nothing could be so beautiful. Ms. Horn has whisked rapt audiences around the globe on timeless journeys…and the cream of her recorded classics took place for New York City’s legendary Verve Records. But Beautiful: The Best of Shirley Horn on Verve, offers eleven selections of absolute proof, along with the sweetest of cherries on top: three new live tracks made in January 2005 at the Au Bar in NYC.

But Beautiful: The Best of Shirley Horn on Verve was compiled by Ken Druker
(Vice President, Catalog Development) who had eleven albums that Ms. Horn cut for Verve since 1988 at his disposal, as well as three others that she recorded for Mercury and ABC Paramount in the early 60’s that are now under Verve’s control. That’s quite a lot of lovely music to sift through, but the result is a perfectly balanced set that captures Horn in moods whimsical and reflective, joyous and blue, yet always romantic.

“I never cease to be fascinated by the way a huge auditorium becomes dead silent when she performs,” Druker states. “During pauses, it’s as if the whole audience is suspended in anticipation of her next note. Nobody commands such rapt attention in slow tempos as Shirley Horn.” With regard to his compilation methodology, he shares, “Seeing her live so often, I included fan favorites like ‘Here’s to Life’ and ‘Fever,’ then picked a few of my own, narrowing the choices by balancing some mid-tempos among the ballads. And, of course, there were a few that Ms. Horn and her long-time manager Sheila Mathis requested to have included, especially “You Won’t Forget Me”, on which Miles Davis played trumpet as her very special guest and the title track, “But Beautiful”.

After falling in love with her debut album Embers and Ashes, it was Miles Davis who officially introduced Washington, D.C.-native Shirley Horn to the jazz elite during a now-fabled engagement at New York’s Village Vanguard in 1960. She was soon after championed by Quincy Jones who brought her to Mercury Records where she recorded two albums: Loads of Love and Shirley Horn with Horns. The delightful song “Loads of Love” is included here, revisited over forty years later at the Au Bar live date. And from 1963’s Shirley Horn with Horns, the finger-snapper “The Great City” (which plays like a cross between “Killer Joe” and “Route 66”) made the cut.

In 1965, Horn recorded the album Traveling Light for ABC Paramount (later reissued on CD under the Impulse! label). Shortly afterward, she opted to focus on family, raising her daughter and performing only in and around her hometown of Washington D.C. Her voice appeared sporadically on small label releases and film soundtracks, but it wasn’t until her signing to Verve Records in 1987 that the singer’s sparkling mastery of restraint and taste was brilliantly showcased in a bar-raising series of deeply inspired works.

Ms. Horn’s Verve debut was the concert set I Thought About You, recorded live at Hollywood’s short-lived Vine Street Bar & Grill. From that collection her lovely rendition of the Sinatra staple “Nice ‘n’ Easy” was chosen for But Beautiful. The song “But Beautiful” was taken from Horn’s first studio dates for Verve, Close Enough for Love, and reflects the piano trio intimacy that she had been polishing to translucent perfection all those years out of the limelight. The swingin’ side of her trio sound is revealed on But Beautiful with two songs from her 1991 release You Won’t Forget Me: the bouncy “I Just Found About Love” and “Come Dance With Me.” But it is the gently driving quiet fire of Goell & Spielman’s torch classic “You Won’t Forget Me” that paired Horn’s resonant voice with Miles Davis’ wounded and haunting trumpet in a one- for-the-ages document that was, sadly, never to be replicated. He died in September of that year. Horn celebrated his memory with her tenth Verve album, I Remember Miles.

Ms. Horn had intended to record four more songs with Davis on her breathlessly anticipated first orchestral outing, Here’s to Life (helmed by the great Johnny Mandel). Though his presence is missed, the heart-melting gem proved to be a high watermark for the lady, topping Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Chart for a stunning 17 weeks. From that flawless collection, But Beautiful includes “If You Love Me,” the poignant “A Time for Love” and her classic treatment of “Here’s to Life” which is now her signature song.

While Here’s to Life was rendering a swiftly growing contingent of fans spellbound, Ms. Horn released the dazzling live set, I Love You, Paris (live at the Theatre du Chatelet 1992) followed by the fittingly soulful Light out of Darkness, a tribute to the then still-living genius of soul, Ray Charles. From Light out of Darkness comes Horn’s loving take on the evergreen love song of longing, “You Don’t Know Me”…featuring Shirley on organ!

Horn’s next album, The Main Ingredient, was an extra special treat because she realized the novel idea of recording the entire album in her house — reminiscing on yester-years when, after gigs, musicians would gather in her place for home cookin’ and jammin’! From these sessions comes “Fever,” a respectful bow to Peggy Lee who made it a hit. Ms. Horn’s Verve catalog is rounded out by the equally superb trilogy of Loving You, You’re My Thrill and 2003’s May the Music Never End.

But Beautiful: The Best of Shirley Horn on Verve is completed by three tracks recorded with her current trio of bassist Ed Howard and longtime drummer Steve Williams. There’s the aforementioned “Loads of Love,” “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” (featuring trumpeter Roy Hargrove to whom Ms. Horn was introduced to years ago by her dear friend, the late singer/pianist Carmen McRae) and the blues perennial “Jelly, Jelly” (also featuring Hargrove, guitarist George Mesterhazy and old friend Buck Hill, the tenor man Horn counts as the only D.C. musician who “agreeably” allowed the then-17-year-old jazz up-and-comer to sit in on his gigs).

Jazz journalist Stanley Crouch may have described the mystique of Ms. Horn’s vocal gift most eloquently when he wrote in the liner notes for You Won’t Forget Me, “Her phrasing and the notes she picks to say what she wants us to remember or recognize avoid the expected with such success that the inevitable intricacies of romance arrive somehow seasoned and innocent at the same time.” Lushly informed with fine music, memories and history, But Beautiful: The Best of Shirley Horn on Verve captures all that is singularly divine about the lady of the hour for all time.

“Shirley Horn is one of the finest song stylists in music today. When you listen to her, you are listening to the Angels sing. I have every CD she’s ever recorded and there’s always one on my CD player. She is the personification of the word ‘Cool’”. — Barry Manilow

“I am a great admirer of Shirley Horn’s artistry. She understands how to communicate with a listener…a wonderful musician who understands the power of intimacy, and how to convey the deepest meaning of a song. When Shirley whispers a lyric, she speaks volumes.” — Barbra Streisand

“Songs are lucky when Shirley Horn chooses them.”
— Jon Pareles, The New York Times

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Shirley Horn - But Beautiful: The Best Of Shirley Horn