Obituary: Shirley Horn

Shirley Horn's languid style had a wide appeal

The jazz singer and pianist Shirley Horn, who has died aged 71, was a sophisticated and thoughtful exponent of the classic American songbook.

Born in Washington DC in 1934, Horn was a musical prodigy, first as a classical pianist, then in the world of jazz.

She might have remained a little known talent, had the legendary trumpeter Miles Davis not discovered her.

He was so taken with Horn's virtuosity that he asked her to open for him at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York. Indeed, Davis said that he would refuse to perform without Horn on the bill.

Motherhood

As Horn later put it: "He told (club owner) Max Gordon: 'If she doesn't play, I'm not playing.' So (Gordon) said: 'Let me hire this child.' "

Before long she was playing in clubs across America, recording with Quincy Jones for Mercury Records, and performing on the soundtracks to films including For Love Of Ivy and A Dandy In Aspic.

But, instead of taking the jazz world by storm, as many had expected her to do, Shirley Horn soon gave up her glittering career to bring up her daughter, playing only relatively few dates in Washington DC.

Miles Davis "discovered" Shirley Horn

It was only in the 1980s that Shirley Horn finally achieved her full potential, signing for the Verve label and being allowed to record songs featuring her own piano accompaniment, something which - to her great frustration - had been forbidden by Mercury.

This late blooming provided jazz lovers with a whole raft of poignant, often sensual, takes on standards like It Had to Be You, Nice 'n' Easy and Fever.

And her languid style, as displayed on albums like You Won't Forget Me and I Love You Paris, brought her a new and younger audience.

Here's To Life, on which she worked with the magisterial arranger and composer, Johnny Mandel, proved a huge commercial hit success, staying at number one on Billboard's jazz list for 17 weeks.

In 1998 she won a Grammy with I Remember Miles, a tribute album dedicated to Davis. But three years later, circulatory problems, complicated by diabetes, forced her to have her right leg amputated.

Even so, Shirley Horn continued, once or twice a month, to perform to delighted fans.

One of these, Barbra Streisand, recently praised Shirley Horn as "a wonderful musician who understands the power of intimacy and how to convey the deepest meaning in a song. When Shirley whispers a lyric, she speaks volumes".