Shirley Horn, 71; Popular Jazz Singer and Pianist Was Known for Expressive Style
LA Times
Shirley Horn, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose richly expressive vocal style made her one of the most popular performers in jazz, died Thursday night in Washington, D.C. She was 71.
Horn died after a lengthy illness, the Verve Music Group, her record label, announced Friday.
Horn lost her right foot to diabetes in 2001 and later much of her right leg. She had also battled breast cancer and arthritis over the last few years.
“We’ve lost the last of the great ones from that generation,” composer Johnny Mandel, who arranged her albums “Here’s to Life” and “You’re My Thrill,” told The Times on Friday. “I think she was the best singer there was.”
Horn brought a richly layered storytelling quality to everything she sang.
“She can swing, but slow songs are her specialty,” Marian McPartland, the pianist and host of the NPR program “Piano Jazz,” told The Times some years ago. “She makes everything count, and has an uncanny use of musical space — she’s not a busy player who has to fill every musical hole. She plays a single chord, and it becomes the basis for a spare, meditative quality. There’s a sensuous, sexy quality to her music too.”
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