Shirley Horn: ‘Garden of the Blues,’ 1984

Now on 180-gram vinyl, a live gig that shows off the singer’s voice and piano

On Nov. 16, 1984, singer-pianist Shirley Horn performed live with her bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams at Florida Memorial College in Miami. The concert was devoted to the wistful and pensive compositions of Curtis Lewis, who died in 1969. Fortunately, Nils Winther, owner of Denmark’s SteepleChase Records, and engineer David Glasser, had arranged to be there to record the concert.

Horn had been introduced to Lewis by her manager, John Levy, during her first recording session in 1960. She then frequently performed and recorded his yearning compositions. As a lyricist, Lewis had a wonderfully soulful way of spinning tales of romantic dilemmas. [Photo above of Shirley Horn]

At the time, Florida Memorial wasn’t exactly a hot spot for hosting concerts by celebrated jazz artists. The college was a religious institution, but that didn’t stop the campus director, Rev. Jefferson Rogers, from lobbying for the event. He was a champion of black culture and a Horn fan. The LP was released a year later, in 1985, by SteepleChase.

Now, the label has reissued the The Garden of the Blues: Shirley Horn Sings Curtis Lewis remastered and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The result sounds fetching and intimate. What made this Horn performance and recording special was how she treated the material. The playlist is ordered so that each song is another chapter in the album’s ruminative concept, including a four-part suite. Horn segues from one song to the next by adding a little narration of her own to tie them together. [Photo above of Curtis Lewis]

The singer is at her peak here in the trio format—seven years before her triumphant 1992 album Here’s to Life, arranged by Johnny Mandel and recorded in 1991.

As you listen to The Garden of the Blues, you’ll be struck by how effortlessly Horn accompanies herself on piano as she sings the sophisticated Lewis songbook. Several times along the way, I forgot and wondered who was playing behind her. Nope, no accompanist. That was Horn, bringing her two creative sides together effortlessly in a single, elegant expression.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1918, Lewis grew up in Chicago and moved to New York in the 1940s. He was among the first black composer-lyricists who owned a music publishing company on Broadway in the early 1950s. His most recorded songs include All Night Long, He Never Mentioned Love and Today I Sing the Blues. He died in 1969.

The tracks:

• He’s Gone Again (Curtis Lewis/Curley Hamner/Gladys Hampton)

• Old Country (Curtis Lewis/Nat Adderley)

• Roaming Lover (Curtis Lewis)

• The Garden of the Blues Suite: Blue City (Curtis Lewis)

• The Garden of the Blues Suite: What Would a Woman Do? (Curtis Lewis)

• The Garden of the Blues Suite: He Never Mentioned Love (Curtis Lewis)

• The Garden of the Blues Suite: The Great City (Curtis Lewis)

For many, this album will be an introduction to the Curtis Lewis songbook. It’s also a prime example of Horn’s vocal sensitivity, singular talents and command of jazz, on both piano and voice.

Shirley Horn died in 2005 at age 71 from complications of diabetes.

To buy the new vinyl recording of Shirley Horn: The Garden of the Blues (SteepleChase), go here. Or you can buy the digital download at Amazon.

Here’s The Garden of the Blues: The Great City, using an intro tagging Benny Golson’s Killer Joe…

And here’s He’s Gone Again…