Michael Fitzgerald

I want the holograph design guys to put together a CGI short film of Art Blakey a la Golden Boy cover do his thing vs. Buddy Rich [see below] and then Elvin Jones a la Zachariah do his thing vs. Blakey in his blue cowboy hat. Can't locate pictures of those right now.... Mike

Oh that's easy - if history were different, it would be Miles Davis who wrote the biography of Ian Carr instead of the other way around. Mike

Jim, did you want chronologically by issue date or by recording date? And I'm surprised you have *nothing* post 1965. There is some good stuff out there. Is my prize a set of the alumni recordings on Baystate? How about the Palcoscenico LP? Mike

And I readily admit that there are still more that I need to get. LEADER ALBUM LABEL CAT_NO Blakey, Art 1958/Paris Olympia Fontana 832659 Blakey, Art Africaine Blue Note 97507 Blakey, Art African Beat, The Blue Note 4097 Blakey, Art Album Of The Year MCA/Impulse 33103 Blakey, Art All American Hero, The Cleo 65014 Blakey, Art Anthenagin Prestige 10076 Blakey, Art Are You Real Moon 71 Blakey, Art Art Of Jazz, The In + Out 77028 Blakey, Art Art's Break! Lotus 14071 Blakey, Art Au Club Saint-Germain RCA 7052 Blakey, Art Au Theatre Champs Elysees RCA 430054 Blakey, Art Backgammon Roulette 5003 Blakey, Art Big Band 1957 Bethlehem 6027 Blakey, Art Big Beat, The Blue Note 4029 Blakey, Art Blue Night Timeless 217 Blakey, Art Buhaina's Delight Blue Note 4104 Blakey, Art Buttercorn Lady Limelight 86034 Blakey, Art Cafe Bohemia 1 Blue Note 1507 Blakey, Art Cafe Bohemia 2 Blue Note 1508 Blakey, Art Caravan Riverside 438 Blakey, Art Child's Dance Prestige 24130 Blakey, Art Chippin' In Timeless 340 Blakey, Art Cu-bop Fresh Sound 95 Blakey, Art Day With Art Blakey, A 1 East Wind 707 Blakey, Art Day With Art Blakey, A 2 East Wind 708 Blakey, Art Des Femmes Disparaissent (st) Fontana 660224 Blakey, Art Dr. Jeckyll ProJazz 651 Blakey, Art Drum Suite CBS 1002 Blakey, Art Drums Ablaze Alto 720 Blakey, Art Drums Around The Corner Blue Note 21455 Blakey, Art Feel The Wind Timeless 307 Blakey, Art Feeling Good Delos 4007 Blakey, Art Free For All Blue Note 4170 Blakey, Art Freedom Rider, The Blue Note 4156 Blakey, Art Golden Boy Colpix 478 Blakey, Art Gypsy Folk Tales Roulette 5008 Blakey, Art Hard Bop CBS 1040 Blakey, Art Hard Champion ProJazz 657 Blakey, Art Hard Drive Bethlehem 75783 Blakey, Art Hold On, I'm Coming Limelight 86038 Blakey, Art Holiday For Skins 1 Blue Note 4004 Blakey, Art Holiday For Skins 2 Blue Note 4005 Blakey, Art Hooray For Art Blakey 1 Session Disc 116 Blakey, Art Hooray For Art Blakey 2 Session Disc 117 Blakey, Art I Get A Kick Out Of Bu Soul Note 121155 Blakey, Art In Concert, Paris Olympia RTE 1502 Blakey, Art In My Prime 1 Timeless/Muse 301 Blakey, Art In My Prime 2 Timeless 118 Blakey, Art In Sweden Amigo 839 Blakey, Art In This Korner Concord 68 Blakey, Art In Walked Sonny Sonet 691 Blakey, Art Indestructible Blue Note 4193 Blakey, Art Jazz Corner 1 Blue Note 4015 Blakey, Art Jazz Corner 2 Blue Note 4016 Blakey, Art Jazz Message, A Impulse 45 Blakey, Art Jazz Messengers Impulse 7 Blakey, Art Jazz Messengers '70 Catalyst 7902 Blakey, Art Jazz Messengers, The CBS 65265 Blakey, Art Keystone 3 Concord 4196 Blakey, Art Kyoto Riverside 493 Blakey, Art Lausanne 1 TCB 2022 Blakey, Art Lausanne 2 TCB 2062 Blakey, Art Les Liasons Dangereuses (st) Fontana 680203 Blakey, Art Like Someone In Love Blue Note 4245 Blakey, Art Live At Kimball's Concord 4307 Blakey, Art Live At Montreux And Northsea Timeless 150 Blakey, Art Live At Ronnie Scott's Castle 332 Blakey, Art Live At Ronnie Scott's BBC 7003 Blakey, Art Live At Slug's Jazz Bird 2011 Blakey, Art Live At Sweet Basil GNP 2182 Blakey, Art Live In Copenhagen Royal Jazz 516 Blakey, Art Live In Stockholm 1959 Dragon 182 Blakey, Art Live In The '50s Jazz Band 2128 Blakey, Art Meet You At Jazz Corner 1 Blue Note 4054 Blakey, Art Meet You At Jazz Corner 2 Blue Note 4055 Blakey, Art Mellow Blues Moon 32 Blakey, Art Midnight Session Savoy Jazz 145 Blakey, Art Mission Eternal Prestige 24159 Blakey, Art Moanin' Blue Note 4003 Blakey, Art Moanin' Live 1968 LRC 9052 Blakey, Art More Birdland Sessions 1960 Fresh Sound 1029 Blakey, Art Mosaic Blue Note 4090 Blakey, Art New Year's Eve Sweet Basil ProJazz 624 Blakey, Art New York Scene Concord 4256 Blakey, Art Night At Birdland, A 1 Blue Note 1521 Blakey, Art Night At Birdland, A 2 Blue Note 1522 Blakey, Art Night In Tunisia EmArcy 800064 Blakey, Art Night In Tunisia, A Vik 1115 Blakey, Art Night In Tunisia, A Blue Note 4049 Blakey, Art Not Yet Soul Note 121105 Blakey, Art Oh, By The Way Timeless 165 Blakey, Art Olympia Part 3 RTE 710571 Blakey, Art One For All A&M 5329 Blakey, Art Orgy In Rhythm 1 Blue Note 1554 Blakey, Art Orgy In Rhythm 2 Blue Note 1555 Blakey, Art Originally CBS 38036 Blakey, Art Paris Concert Epic 16009 Blakey, Art Paris Jam Session Fontana 832692 Blakey, Art Play Selections From Lerner And Loewe Vik 1103 Blakey, Art Reflections In Blue Timeless/Muse 317 Blakey, Art Reflections Of Buhaina Savoy Jazz 92879 Blakey, Art Ritual Pacific Jazz 402 Blakey, Art Roots And Herbs Blue Note 4347 Blakey, Art 'S Make It Limelight 86001 Blakey, Art Second Edition RCA 66661 Blakey, Art Soul Finger Limelight 86018 Blakey, Art Straight Ahead Concord 4168 Blakey, Art Theory Of Art RCA 68730 Blakey, Art Three Blind Mice 1 Blue Note 4451 Blakey, Art Three Blind Mice 2 Blue Note 4452 Blakey, Art Tough! Cadet 4049 Blakey, Art Ugetsu Riverside 464 Blakey, Art Unforgettable Lee! Fresh Sound 1020 Blakey, Art Witch Doctor Blue Note 4258 Blakey, Art With Thelonious Monk Atlantic 1278 Blakey, Art & George Kawaguchi Killer Joe Storyville 4100 Blakey, Art et al Drum Night At Birdland Roulette 52049 Blakey, Art/Count Basie Sessions, Live Calliope 3008 Blakey, Art/James Moody New Sounds Blue Note 4436 Blakey, Art/Joe Gordon Blakey [blakey/Introducing Joe Gordon] Verve 538634 Blakey, Art/John Handy Messages Roulette 131 Rich, Buddy (& Art Blakey) Electric Sticks Of Buddy Rich, The Alto 721

The one bad Art Blakey album is "Hold On, I'm Comin'." And I'm not counting the "Bluesiana Triangle" stuff he appeared on. Mike

And it would fuel speculation about exactly how Miles swung.......

Glaring gap pre-1958. Every Blue Note, Columbia, Impulse, Riverside issue is worth having. There's a lot more wonderful music you can look forward to. Blakey only made one bad album. And even that's better than a lot of stuff. Mike

Here's the review by Don DeMicheal, published in the December 21, 1961 issue of Down Beat, pp. 41-42. ================== Rating: * * * * A glance at the personnel of this album might lead one to believe this is another blowing session. It is not. Although there are good, sometimes excellent, solos on every track, Nelson's writing lifts this record out of the ordinary. Using 12-bar blues and I Got Rhythm as points of departure, Nelson has put together six compositions that show him to be one of the important new writers. He uses various devices, depending on the mood he wishes to create. In Stolen Moments, he uses close parallel voicing, to achieve a soothing, floating feeling, somewhat in the manner of Gil Evans. In Hoedown, he contrasts a rustic effect, similar to that used by country fiddlers, in the first part of the composition with undulating modern lines in the second. Cascades is built on a minor-key exercise Nelson composed when he was in school. The theme, 56-bars long, put me in the mind of Lester Young's Tickletoe. Instead of returning to the original theme after the solos, Nelson introduces a 12-bar theme that is related to Stolen Moments. Yearning, made up of two sections, one of 12 bars, the other of 16, is in a Basie mode and played behind the beat, so far behind, in fact, that it sets up an uncomfortable tension in the rhythm section. Nelson has written a boppish line, played by alto and trumpet, in Butch, with tenor and baritone together acting as foil and counterbalance. Teenie's is written for two altos; blues serve as the base, but Nelson adds spice by employing dissonance and half-step transpositions. Nelson's playing is like his writing: thoughtful, unhackneyed, and well constructed. Though their styles of playing and writing are dissimilar, there is a parallel between Nelson and Benny Golson. Both play compositionally; each writes with an over-all effect in mind; neither restricts himself to standard meter constructions. Hubbard steals the solo honors with some of his best playing on records. The young trumpeter seems to be giving more thought to the shape of his solos than was his wont previously. In several of his solos here he alternates to advantage a series of short, punching phrases with long, flowing ones. Hubbard still has the wonderful fire of youth in his playing, but there are now moments of soberness also. Dolphy gets off some good solos, too, his most interesting one on Yearnin'. If we can visualize most solos as being a given area that is gradually filled in by the soloist, as, say, a circle is blacked in, Dolphy, on Yearnin', seems to outline the solo area, blacking in, as it were, the space around the edge of the circle. Anyway you want to lok at it, it's a hell of a solo. Evans is a little disappointing. Except for short solos on Butch and Teenie's, his piano solos are no more than pleasant, and there's nothing more frustrating than an excellent musician being merely pleasant. Special commendation must go to Barrow, Haynes, and Chambers for their ensemble playing. Haynes again shows that he is one of the most adaptable and understanding of drummers; his support is excellent throughout. Now, how about a big-band date for Nelson? (D.DeM.) =================== Mike

According to this: http://www.dougpayne.com/pturner3.htm It's a stereo/mono distinction - but I've also seen reference to both formats having both covers. Mike BTW, here's ANOTHER cover (a German reissue):

Wrong - that was Frank Grimes. http://grimey.simpsonsline.de/ Mike

R&B tenor player. http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/jgreer.html Mike

But he did record with Eckstine - he's on the first session (4/13/44) with Good Jelly Blues. I guess you mean "record more". And let's appreciate what Art Blakey did in replacing him. What if history were different and that change never happened and Blakey's career fizzled and died in Boston. Mike

The only other versions I know of by Rollins are from the 1959 European tour with Henry Grimes and Pete LaRoca. Mike

That would be "Billy". It was an odd spin-off from "Head Of The Class" from the season when Howard Hesseman left and Billy Connolly (the Scottish comedian) replaced him. The character Billy MacGregor was in both. In "Billy" our hero had no green card, moved in with the single mother of one of his night-school students and, as they say, hilarity ensued. Well, for 13 episodes..... http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles...299000321.shtml Mike

I agree that all those things were in there somewhere in Nelson's mind when it came to the "Stolen Moments" solo, but I think we have to remember that he was a composer and arranger and that this was his album (his debut on a brand new record label too), with all his planning and control. So, he's got this piece, a minor blues variant that he had already recorded with Lockjaw Davis. Maybe people had heard it, maybe not. Obviously he couldn't know that the impulse! recording was going to be an all-time classic. But he did know that while the head was going to be nearly identical, he had some different soloists to deal with. I think it is important to look at how he structured the remaining minutes between the heads. He's got the hottest trumpeter of the day, Freddie Hubbard. He's got Eric Dolphy - with whom he'd already recorded a few times for Prestige. Everybody digs Bill Evans. And he's got himself. How is he going to use all these resources to best advantage? Think about why the soloists come in the order that they do. I believe this was carefully considered, not just a series of whoever happened to step up to the microphone first. Coming out of a pretty calm piece, Hubbard is going to heat things up. His first chorus starts off assertively, but slow with some longer notes. He leaves space and uses dynamic contrast effectively. The second and third choruses are, to me, a Miles Davis allusion (the hard-swinging opening phrase of the second chorus and the one-note rhythmic stuff of the third chorus) contrasted with the brilliant long bebop lines that are building to what happens in the fourth chorus. There he goes into the arpeggio thing - not the most creative in terms of melodic line, but remember the arrangement and the overall plan. It's perfect. This is a Hubbard-ism that made his style (like his chromatic lip slurs from later periods). After this climax, Hubbard brings things down, but the potential excitement level has been established. By the end, we are ready for Dolphy. Dolphy plays alto on the head, but had he soloed on alto I don't think it would have worked as well for the piece (and for the popularity, as I mentioned before). Flute is the perfect contrast in terms of timbre and register. It's a contrast to Hubbard, and it's a contrast to what we haven't yet heard - we don't know it, but Nelson of course does. Dolphy is double-timing from the start and there's not much let up. His approach doesn't use the kind of clear motives that Hubbard (and later Nelson) use. It's a very different effect. BTW, bass clarinet would be a contrast too, but would be closer to tenor in range. I like how the flute clears the aural palate of low and middle register sounds so that it's fresh when the tenor happens. After Dolphy winds down (notice he only takes three choruses compared to four for Hubbard - I think any more would have been counterproductive to the performance as a whole), Nelson then comes out with his which uses the entire range of the tenor, from the lowest to the altissimo. His first chorus is all based on a motive: a slow three-note idea that emphasizes the 11th of the chords. The second chorus turns the three notes into arpeggios (remember Hubbard's fourth chorus) but as opposed to Hubbard lip-flexibility technical approach, Nelson uses rhythm - playing faster and displacing triplets against the steady backing of the rhythm section. He also is building with range - going up for the concert G (above the standard range of the tenor) just for a moment. After hitting it, he continues with the triplets, shifting them to fit the chords - like playing the concert E-flat, G-flat, and B-flat against the G7 - very striking. The third chorus stresses the 9th of the chords with long held notes. Rhythmically this is a reminder of the first chorus - but the range is much higher. In the fourth bar, he returns to that altissimo concert G, the highest note of the solo, and holds it for two and a half bars. After this, it's major triads, but descending - as opposed to the ascending minor triads that were prominent in the second chorus. His use of chromatics here is interesting (B-flat triad, A-flat, G, G-flat, F) and sets up his "signature lick" - descending major triads spaced a major third apart. That begins the fourth chorus. (It's also what Hubbard plays on that "Bluesnik" solo at 6:00. Sonny Rollins also used it. It's the kind of thing you practice to think differently on chords and get your fingers used to playing outside the standard notes.) Nelson concludes his solo showing more wide range use and a descending figure that is actually a permutation of his opening three note stacked fourths idea. The solo opens: G-C-F ascending and this idea is C-G-F descending. He proceeds to move this motive downwards, again with colorful chromaticism, effortlessly arriving at the tonic C (the finish line) exactly on the 13th bar of the fourth chorus and passing the baton to Bill Evans. The piano solo is a nice break from the horns. It's just plain Bill, with plenty of diminished scale stuff and color tones on the minor chords. Again, a shorter solo with three choruses, not four. Roy Haynes seems to wake up and stretch when the intro returns, reminding us that he's still back there. Go back and listen to how unobtrusive he and Chambers are during all the preceding solos. Mostly just straight solid time. This piece isn't about pushing the soloist and interacting but is about creating the cushion. But why did Oliver Nelson do things the way he did? Dolphy first would be too much too soon. I believe he wanted to set up his own tenor solo as the prime featured position (third of four). His solo has the structural relationship to the original piece, it's like an extension of it, not just jamming on the minor blues. But how could that be best presented? I think pushing Hubbard up front to capture listeners' attention and then following it with the still-exotic flute was a great move. After those two, people are listening - what's going to be next? Nelson has everyone just where he wants them, in the palm of his hand. I don't think it was any accident. What could he do that was different from the other great soloists? His methodical approach. Then use Evans as the buffer between that and the return of the melody (good idea to use the introduction again too). Of all the soloists, Nelson's is the most memorable. It's clear and it's perfectly executed. 10 out of 10. BTW, there are so many other little things like how Evans plays behind the third tenor chorus. Just right. Also note that this is the lead-off piece on side one. And oddly, it's the longest piece on the album - you might expect the "hit single" to be more concise. This is one that I have played for students time and time again. If after the tune is over no one remembers anything about your solo, you've wasted everyone's time. With Nelson (and Hubbard to a lesser degree), you remember just about *everything* about their solos. Mike

Shirley's producer Joel Siegel once told this story (I have lightly paraphrased): ----- At the Cine Grill in Hollywood, two blond women approached Horn between sets. One dropped to her knees, identified herself as Diana Krall, and worshipfully expressed her debt to Shirley's inspiration. Shirley replied, "If you respect me so much, how come you sing all of my songs?" The other blonde stood by silently until Shirley got up to do her next set, then hugged her. "I didn't recognize her, but she felt like a real person," Horn told Siegel. When he asked if she recalled her name, Shirley paused and then said, "I think she said Joni something." "Joni Mitchell?" Siegel asked. "Yeah. That was it." Mike

And her last record - May The Music Never End Mike

Nice record, just mistitled. Mike

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5102101624.html Jazz Singer Shirley Horn Dies at 71 by Adam Bernstein Washington Post, October 22, 2005 Shirley Horn, a smoky-voiced jazz balladeer and pianist who was resigned to being a musical fixture in her native Washington before emerging as a national presence in her fifties and winning a Grammy Award, died Thursday from complications of diabetes at a Gladys Spellman Specialty Hospital and Nursing Center in Cheverly. She was 71. With her slow, meditative ballads, Horn was one of the leading jazz singers of her generation and was unquestionably Washington's pre-eminent jazz musician. After reviving her dormant career in the 1980s, she made a series of triumphant concert appearances and top-selling recordings that earned seven Grammy nominations. Her performances at the White House in 1994 and at New York's Lincoln Center in 1998 were broadcast nationally on PBS. An uncompromising perfectionist, she worked hard to develop a personal, pensive sound. Her artistry had long depended on the interaction between voice and piano, but in 2001 Horn's right foot was amputated because of her diabetes. As a result, it was difficult for her to use the elegant pedal work that had marked her piano style. Later, she would sometimes remove the shoe from her prosthetic foot and manipulated the piano's sustain peddle with the force of her hip. In final appearance, last December at the Kennedy Center, she climbed from her wheelchair to the piano and performed what had become her signature song, "Here's to Life." Horn was a piano virtuoso as a child, focusing initially on classical training until she discovered the music of Erroll Garner and other jazz pianists. Her first jazz record, in 1960, was on a minor label, and she remained forever mystified how trumpeter Miles Davis found a copy. He appreciated the lingering silences of her music, similar to his own style at the time. In later years, Horn won legions of listeners with her exaggeratedly slow, intimate ballads in which her words seemed to melt in the air. "I've never known anyone that could do a ballad that slowly and keep it musical, keep it happening," pianist Marian McPartland told Down Beat magazine. Horn was a strong influence on many younger singers, including jazz pianist-vocalist Diana Krall. Davis's early advocacy of Horn's work led to a wider introduction to the New York jazz world and enabled her to meet producer Quincy Jones. When her albums for Jones misfired -- she was frustrated to be cast as a stand-up singer-- she found herself without a contract and back in Washington as jazz was fast losing ground to rock and other pop sounds. She performed when possible but settled primarily into a life as a wife and mother, demurring from some festival dates that might have given her greater exposure. In 1980, she was attending a musicians' convention in Washington's Shoreham Hotel and somewhere after midnight sat down at the piano with some old friends. The performance apparently dazzled many in the crowd, including recording executives and concert promoters. She then accepted an invitation to the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and her mesmerizing concert led to a career resurgence. She received a contract with the prestigious Verve record label and was championed by leading critics. Her reborn career culminated in her Grammy win for best jazz vocal performance in 1998 for "I Remember Miles," a tribute to her former mentor. The album cover featured an illustration Davis had made of them years earlier. Shirley Valerie Horn was born in Washington on May 1, 1934, to a General Accounting Office clerk and a homemaker. She began her career as a pianist at age 4, encouraged by a mother who had hopes she would be a pioneering black classical artist. She learned on her grandmother's parlor upright and began to study at Howard University when she was 12. She won a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music in New York, but financial considerations kept her in Washington, where she continued her training at Howard before focusing on jazz. "Oscar Peterson became my Rachmaninoff, and Ahmad Jamal became my Debussy," she later said. As a teenage musician, she attracted a small following around Washington while playing in cocktail lounges. One night, an older customer promised her a four-foot-tall turquoise teddy bear if she would sing "My Melancholy Baby." "I was very shy and it was hard for me to sing," Horn said in her Verve records biography, "but I wanted that teddy bear." She incorporated singing into her act to earn extra money and by the mid-1950s was fronting a small band at Olivia's Patio Lounge, Bohemian Caverns and other clubs on Washington's U Street jazz corridor. She rarely ventured beyond Baltimore at the behest of her husband, Sheppard Deering, a Metro mechanic. He survives her, along with a daughter, Rainy Smith of Lanham; two brothers, Ernie Horn and Dale Horn, both of Washington; and two grandsons. With the release of her first album, "Embers and Ashes," she received the call from Davis asking her to open for him at the Village Vanguard club in New York. She thought a friend was playing a prank and was still disbelieving when she arrived in Manhattan. "When I got there, to sort of prove that he really knew about me, he had his kids singing songs from 'Embers and Ashes,'" she once told the New York Times. Davis used his legendary obstinacy for Horn's advantage, threatening the Vanguard's owner that he would not play his long engagement if the unknown singer did not get star treatment in publicity and other matters. His generosity was matched by his eccentricity, she later told The Washington Post: "One night I was playing 'My Funny Valentine' with my group, and Miles started playing from behind a pillar. But he wouldn't come out." The engagement heralded a hopeful phase in her career. At the Vanguard, she met actor Sidney Poitier, who "came up to me and said how much he enjoyed my music and kissed my hand. I almost fainted." She sang on the soundtrack of his film "For Love of Ivy" (1968). The Vanguard exposure led to a contract with Mercury Records, where she worked with Quincy Jones on two albums, "Shirley Horn with Horns" and "Loads of Love" (both 1963). Despite working with top-flight musicians, Horn was displeased. "They wanted to groom me as a stand-up singer," she once told the Baltimore Sun. "And I thought, 'This ain't right. I play piano.' I felt so uncomfortable, standing in this little booth singing off the lyric sheets there in front of me.... Those records were not me." She returned to Washington and resumed a family life with occasional, if frustrating, bids for wider recognition during the rise of rock and disco music and at a time when jazz clubs were closing. While her career was reviving in the 1980s, she began to go beyond Washington for appearances with her longtime musical partners, bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams. After signing a deal with Verve Records, her live recording at Hollywood's Vine St. Bar and Grill, "I Thought About You" (1987), became her first major-label release in 20 years. "Shirley Horn need no longer be called a cult artist or a legend," critic Leonard Feather wrote in the Los Angeles Times. "Without question she is the singer of the year, and arguably the pianist too." She performed before sold-out crowds in the world's leading concert halls and attracted an star-studded roster of musical guest artists. On her album "You Won't Forget Me" (1990), she was joined by Davis, who played in his classic 1950s style on one of his last recordings before his death in 1991. Other performers included harmonica player Toots Thielemans and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. In 1992, she fulfilled a long-held desire to be backed by strings and worked with composer-arranger Johnny Mandel on the album "Here's to Life," which spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard jazz chart. Two of her other albums, "I Love You, Paris" (1992) "Light Out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles)" (1993), also reached No. 1. In 1995, she recorded an album, "The Main Ingredient," in her Northeast Washington home. The record, released the following year, included a recipe for the beef stew Horn she cooked for saxophonist Joe Henderson, drummer Elvin Jones and other musicians who performed on the record and lingered at her house through the night. She was inducted into the Washington Area Music Awards hall of fame in 1987 and recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts for lifelong contributions to jazz in 2004. She was a habitual smoker of Pall Malls and a devotee of the soap opera "The Young and the Restless," sometimes insisting on changing hotel rooms when TV reception was poor. She valued her family's privacy and, for years, hung a hand-printed card on her front door: "If you have not contacted me, don't ring the bell: The Management." _____ Staff writer Matt Schudel contributed to this report. ===================================== Another thing that would be nice would be a proper reissue of her first two albums. Mike

Something to remember her by, shared by Shirley on "The Main Ingredient": BEEF & BEER 1 - deep iron skillet (or roaster) 1 - 2" Chuck Roast (blade in) 20 - fresh button mushrooms (halved) 3 - cups sliced carrots 3 - cans Campbell's onion soup 1 - tbs. garlic powder 1 - beer (Heineken) 1/2 pint Wild Irish Rose (wine) After you wash meat (no more water) braise meat on both sides (lid off pot). Pour in 2 cans of onion soup, wine, and beer. Cover, reduce heat to low. Throw mushrooms and carrots in, open a beer, or drink & chill (maybe 2 hours) - taste and enjoy. Remember, no salt. ------------ and I had no idea about this: http://www.bohemiancaverns.com/fine/fine.htm Mike

There is so much to say. I was just listening to Shirley's masterpiece "You Won't Forget Me" earlier this week. Shirley paid some heavy dues. She had her own personal life outside of performance, taking years off to raise her family; she dealt with racisim, sexism, rude audiences, and life as a "local legend" - her brief flirtation with fame in the early 1960s was followed by nearly two decades of obscurity. And then she was BIG - real BIG - signed to Verve, recording with Johnny Mandel strings - winning Grammy awards - stuff in popular film soundtracks - all kinds of critical and public acclaim. But it was not all sweetness and light - most notably the death of Charles Ables, her bassist for over thirty years and her struggle with diabetes which lead to the amputation of her foot. Listening to her sing "Yesterday" - when she couldn't play the piano for herself - "Suddenly, I'm not half the girl I used to be" brings tears to my eyes even just writing it now. "Charles' death affected me more than the loss of my foot," Horn says. "He was my other half. Part of me is gone." It's been hard, she says with typical frankness, but "I'm hanging in, kicking ass." BUT - as she said in the same article, with unflinching conviction: "I'm going to play the piano, it's as simple as that." and she DID. At the January 2005 shows in NYC, her replacement pianist George Mesterhazy opened the sets playing trio with Ed Howard and Steve Williams, but when Shirley came out in a wheelchair, she was helped to the bench and SHE played. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c....DTL&type=music Despite the regal stage presence, with those half-closed eyes and her elegant dresses, Shirley was down-to-earth - and shockingly so. I always get a kick out of reading this and imagining Shirley's perplexed- accommodating-disdain for the questions: ==================== http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/int...html?sernum=176 What's your current favorite CD, book, writer, movie? - I've been listening to a CD by Sting. It's a soundtrack to a movie; it's just beautiful. - A book entitled "Men, Women and Girl Singers" by John Levy. - Movie: "Duel in the Sun". How many degrees of separation are there between you and Kevin Bacon? - Who is Kevin Bacon? Fill in the blank: I am the _____ of my generation. - Slowest balladeer. What was the most important event in your life in the last year? - The release of my recording "You're My Thrill." Fill in the blank: I always have ____ in my refrigerator. - Beer Who inspires you the most? - God for spiritual things, family for my daily decisions, musically there are too many to mention. Tell us something nobody knows about you. - I'm a Taurus. Describe your ideal mate. - Tall, intelligent, compassionate, sexy Two words: - Stop terrorism. Who was your first celebrity crush? - Gregory Peck. What pushes your buttons/makes you angry? - Rudeness Squelch or confirm (or start) a rumor about yourself. - I am going to run the 100 yard dash in 60 seconds. The last movie I cried at/laughed out loud at was: - "Old Yeller" What's your biggest guilty pleasure? - Pate Who is your favorite designer? - Myself. I have a seamstress do all my gowns. I select the fabric and design them. Fill in the blank: In high school, I was ____. - Always playing piano. What's your favorite getaway? - Key West, Florida ==================== I sure hope the bastards at Verve will reissue the magnificent documentary film "Here's To Life" on DVD. It's a real triumph. Here's to you. Mike

Wow - have we never done this one before? There is so much to say about this record. Years ago I transcribed all the arrangements to play with various groups. It's a small group arranging course, right there. Elsewhere others have mentioned the stand-out solos on "Stolen Moments", Nelson's stark, disciplined motivic development, which stands in contrast to Hubbard's exuberant display. I'm convinced that this track, which has become a jazz classic, would not have been so well-received by the jazz public had Dolphy soloed on alto instead of flute. Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Roy Haynes. DAMN!!! And, as always, recognition for the unsoloing George Barrow. I look forward to listening again to an album that is embedded in my memory. Mike

What's more - I can tell you on what album you can hear Kenny Barron playing it! Mike

Well, if so, it must be something else. The trio I know of is alto, bass, drums. Mike

Just received this news: http://www.devradowrite.com/?p=89 On October 11, 2005 Verve issued a compilation "But Beautiful: The Best Of Shirley Horn" that includes as a bonus three new tracks from 2005 at Le Jazz Au Bar in NYC. Jelly, Jelly Loads Of Love I Didn't Know What Time It Was One hell of a piano player, singer, arranger, and bandleader. Discography on my website. Mike