Shirley Horn You Won't Forget Me CD

W/M.Davis,W.Marsalis & B.Marsalis

Personnel includes: Shirley Horn, Miles Davis, Buck Hill, Branford Marsalis, Toots Thielemans, Buster Williams, Billy Hart.
With 1991's You Won't Forget Me, Shirley Horn's star continued to rise. While mostly ballads, this recording also includes swinging takes on "I Just Found Out About Love" and "Foolin' Myself." Toots Thielemans stars with his distinctive harmonica sound on "Beautiful Love" and "Soothe Me," and the unmistakable trumpet of Miles Davis weaves around Horn's vocal on the title track. The opening medley moves from the almost-whispered ballad "The Music That Makes Me Dance," to a funkily midtempo "Come Dance with Me." "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" is absolutely gorgeous, with Wynton Marsalis stepping in to trade phrases with Horn's voice. The music here is mostly taken at a very leisurely tempo, and the spare arrangements allow plenty of room for the music to breathe, proving that less is often more. The only complaint is that such spaciousness generates is a certain sameness to the material, but this is leavened by the guest appearances of Thielemans, Davis, the brothers Marsalis, and tenorman Buck Hill. ~ Jim Newsom
Shirley Horn focuses on romantic love songs on this third release for the Verve label. In addition to her powerful rhythm section (Charles Ables on bass, Steve Williams on drums) this release features guest appearances by some of jazz's luminaries: Miles Davis (long a champion of Horn's music), Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and Toots Thielmans.
Interestingly, Horn rarely takes a solo, but repeats the songs over and over, slightly changing the phrasing and continuously building on the piano to change the emphasis. Every cut is a masterpiece, but the stand out is the title cut. Drummer Steve Williams sets up a strange, repetitive quarter note pattern which sounds like a ticking clock over which Miles Davis' muted trumpet floats and soars as Horn sings and plays piano. The track is especially poignant, as it was one of Davis' last appearances on record. The effect is nothing short of breathtaking. This album is a wonderful jazz treasure.

Entertainment Weekly (4/5/91) - "Horn is an uncanny self-accompanist on piano, and her voice has a subtlety and richness that can generally sustain her exceedingly protracted readings of ballads...This is moody stuff by a virtuouso of mood." - Rating: A-
Down Beat (3/91) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "Here she gives us more of her sparse, moody style, with appearances by the "men in her life."
Musician (5/91) - "grand poetic soliloquies on the kind of swinging, mature love that endures...a unified perception of voice and piano quite unlike anything you've heard, by turns serene, vulnerable and assertive."
Stereo Review (4/91) - Best Recording Of The Month - "Horn's mastery of form, sound, and texture is apparent in everything she does...she reaches beneath the surface of these romantic compositions to plumb the depths of melody and lyrics, creating arrangements that reshape each song into a highly personal dramatic achievement."
New York Times (Publisher) (1/1/92) - "The veteran Washington-based jazz singer and pianist emerges from semi-obscurity with this deep, dignified pop-jazz album."