Today we tell about jazz singer and pianist Shirley Horn.
Shirley Horn was considered one of the great jazz singers of the nineteen fifties and sixties. She was often compared to the famous singers Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. She performed for more than fifty years.Shirley Horn's voice was smooth and expressive, but never hurried. She was one of the slowest singers in jazz. When she sang a song, she wanted the audience to feel it in the same way she did. She had a small voice. But her songs had a big effect.Here, Shirley Horn sings her popular song "You're My Thrill."Shirley Horn was born in Washington, D.C. in nineteen thirty-four. She lived all her life in and around Washington. Shirley began taking piano lessons when she was four years old. Her mother recognized her skill and love for the instrument.Shirley Horn said most of the songs she performed were ones she grew up with. She said her family loved music and there was always music by the greatest singers and bands playing in her home. Horn said she lived for music. She said it was like food and water to her.Shirley Horn studied classical music as a teenager. When she was seventeen, she had a chance to attend the famous Juilliard School in New York City. But financial difficulties prevented her from going. Instead, she studied classical music at Howard University in Washington.Shirley Horn had planned to have a career playing classical music on the piano. But she said all that changed after she began going to jazz clubs in Washington. She said she was influenced by some of the greatest jazz artists, such as Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal.When asked about her change from classical music to jazz, she would later say: "I loved Rachmaninoff, but then Oscar Peterson became my Rachmaninoff. And Ahmad Jamal became my Debussy."Horn did not plan to be a singer. She said it happened by accident when she was seventeen and playing classical music on the piano at a restaurant. A man offered to give her a huge toy teddy bear if she would sing the song "Melancholy Baby." Although she had never sung in public before, she agreed. She later realized that she could make a living singing and playing jazz. Here she sings the famous song by Cole Porter, "Love for Sale."In nineteen fifty-four, Shirley Horn began to sing jazz in clubs and started her own jazz group. In nineteen sixty, she recorded her first album, called "Embers and Ashes." The album did not get a lot of attention. But the famous jazz musician, Miles Davis, heard it. He liked it so much that he invited Horn to play music with him in New York City. She sang as the opening act before his performance at New York's Village Vanguard nightclub. Davis had refused to play unless the club owner let Horn sing. Shirley Horn and Miles Davis developed a close friendship over the years. Here she sings and he plays the trumpet on the song "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin."Shirley Horn's performance with Miles Davis in New York led to a record deal with Mercury Records. She was soon performing around the United States. She also recorded with Quincy Jones and other top musicians. But Horn soon left Mercury Records because of creative differences. She wanted to play the piano on all her recordings, but the record company did not agree.Shirley Horn stopped performing around the country in the nineteen sixties so she could spend more time at home with her husband and daughter. She played at local nightclubs in the Washington area during the nineteen sixties and seventies.Shirley Horn rebuilt her career in the nineteen eighties. She began performing more widely at jazz festivals and concerts around the world and received strong praise. In nineteen eighty- seven, she signed a record deal with Verve Records and remained with the record company for the rest of her career.In nineteen ninety, Horn reunited with her good friend and teacher, Miles Davis, on the song, "You Won't Forget Me." She went on to record several successful albums and performed around the world.She also worked on several soundtracks for movies. Here are Shirley Horn and Miles Davis with "You Won't Forget Me."Shirley Horn was nominated for several Grammy Awards. In nineteen ninety-eight, she won the award for the album, "I Remember Miles," in memory of Miles Davis, who died in nineteen ninety-one. Horn received many honors during her career. But her last years were difficult. She had a series of health problems, including treatment for breast cancer. And in two thousand two, she had her foot removed because of problems caused by diabetes.Shirley Horn continued to sing for audiences, but she did so in a chair, with someone else playing the piano. The loss of her foot made it difficult for her to work the pedals that control the way the piano sounds. However, during her last performances, she returned to playing the piano with the help of a device that took the place of her foot. In June of two thousand five, Horn suffered a stroke. She died four months later at the age of seventy-one.Critics say Shirley Horn influenced many young jazz musicians of today, including Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Critics say she will be remembered as one of the best singers in a great period of American jazz. In two thousand five, Verve Records released a collection of her work, called "But Beautiful: The Best of Shirley Horn." We leave you now with a song from that album called "Here's to Life."
Source：VOA
【People in America/美國人物】
Mary Lyon（瑪莉·裡昂）
Harriet Tubman：哈麗特•塔布曼
Shel Silverstein：謝爾·希爾弗斯坦
Walt Disney: 沃爾特·迪士尼
Ella Fitzgerald：艾拉·費茲傑拉
Ray Kroc：雷·克拉克
Cochise: 柯奇斯人
Lou Gehrig：盧·格裡克
Walt Whitman：沃爾特·惠特曼
Louis Armstrong: 路易斯·阿姆斯特朗
Alan Shepard: 艾倫-謝潑德
Edith Wharton：伊迪絲·華頓
Buffalo Bill Cody：水牛比爾
Maria Callas：瑪麗亞·卡拉斯
Gunther Gebel-Williams：格貝爾-威廉士
Pocahontas：波卡洪塔斯
Thurgood Marshall：瑟古德·馬歇爾
Philo Farnsworth：菲洛·法恩斯沃思
Ronald Reagan：隆納·雷根
Neillie Bly: 娜麗·布萊
Casey Jones：凱西·瓊斯
Edward R. Murrow：愛德華·默羅
Barbara Jordan: 芭芭拉·喬丹
Clare Boothe Luce：柯列爾.布茲.盧斯
Issac Stern: 艾薩克·斯特恩
Five Labor Leaders
Georgia O'Keeffe：託特·奧·吉弗
Rain-in-the-Face
Ralph Waldo Emerson：拉爾夫·沃爾多·愛默生
Doctor Spock: 斯波克醫生
Elizabeth Blackwell：伊莉莎白·布萊克威爾
John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet：約翰·路易斯
Marlon Brando：馬龍·白蘭度
Red Adair: 保羅•尼爾•阿代爾
Dian Fossey：黛安 佛西
Oppenheimer and Fermi 羅伯特·奧本海默和恩裡克·費米
Movie Pioneers：美國電影先驅者
Patsy Cline
Margaret Sanger: 瑪格麗·特桑格
Nat King Cole：納京高
The Marx Brothers:馬克思兄弟
芭芭拉·庫尼
Artie Shaw：阿迪爾·簫
Frank and Jesse James：詹氏兄弟
Shirley Chisholm：雪莉·奇澤姆
Julia Ward Howe：朱莉亞·沃德·豪
Arthur Miller: 阿瑟·米勒
Elvis Presley:貓王
Gwendolyn Brooks：格溫德琳·布魯克斯
Lucille Ball：露西爾·鮑爾
Jackie Robinson: 傑基·羅賓森
Langston Hughes: 蘭斯頓·休斯
Mary Kay：玫琳凱
Aaron Copland: 亞倫·科普蘭
Louisa May Alcott: 露易莎·梅·奧爾科特
Carl Rowan：卡爾·羅旺
Jack Benny: 傑克·本尼
Barbara McClintock:芭芭拉·麥克林託克
George Gershwin：喬治·格什溫
Charlie Parker：查理·帕克
Susan B. Anthony: 蘇珊·布朗奈爾·安東尼
Leonard Bernstein: 倫納德·伯恩斯坦
Jassica Tandy: 傑西卡·坦迪
Louis Khan:甘路意
Bella Abzug：貝拉.艾布扎格
Cesar Chavez:凱薩·查維斯
Dorothy West: 多蘿西·韋斯特
Arthur Ashe: 阿瑟·阿什
Willis Conover:威利斯·康諾弗
Roger Miller: 羅傑·米勒
Willa Cather: 薇拉·凱瑟
Jackson Pollock:傑克遜·波洛克
Bessie Coleman：貝西·科爾曼
Ann Landers: 安·蘭德斯
James Rouse:詹姆斯·勞斯
Rosa Parks：羅莎·帕克斯
George Abbott：喬治·艾伯特
Janis Joplin：詹尼斯·喬普林
Marian Anderson: 瑪麗安·安德森（I）
Marian Anderson: 瑪麗安·安德森（II）
Diane Arbus：黛安·阿勃絲