Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Shirley Horn
(Photo: ©Brian McMillen, courtesy of Resonance Records)Singer and pianist Shirley Horn (1934–2005) was a jazz trailblazer, a female artist whose immense talent put her securely in the company of such jazz legends as Miles Davis, who once said of Horn, “If she don’t play, I ain’t gonna play” during a performance at the Village Vanguard.
This fall, fans of Horn will have an opportunity to hear a live album of previously unreleased tracks. On Sept. 16, Resonance Records will issue Live At The 4 Queens, featuring Horn and her veteran bandmates, bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams.
Originally recorded by Las Vegas NPR affiliate KNPR on May 2, 1988, at the 4 Queens Hotel, the album will be available as a deluxe CD package and a digital download.
Live At The 4 Queens was recorded about a year after Horn’s milestone 1987 album I Thought About You (Verve), which was viewed as the “comeback” record that reignited her international touring career after a nearly 20-year hiatus—during which she focused primarily on raising her daughter in her hometown of Washington, D.C.
The album includes a 56-page book documenting Horn’s life and career, featuring interviews conducted by Resonance Records producer Zev Feldman, who topped the Rising Star—Producer category of the 2016 DownBeat Critics Poll. Additional essays were contributed by journalist James Gavin, producers Jean-Philippe Allard and Richard Seidel, longtime Horn drummer Steve Williams, singer Sheila Jordan, jazz radio veteran Rusty Hassan, KNPR engineer Brian Sanders, manager Sheila Mathis and Horn’s daughter, Rainy Smith.
With nine tracks and more than 50 minutes of music, Live At The 4 Queens features Horn’s interpretations of popular songs, including “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To,” “The Boy From Ipanema” (Horn’s spin on the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic), “Isn’t It Romantic?,” “Lover Man” and others.
Championed in her early career by Davis and bandleader Quincy Jones, Horn was known for her supple touch at the keyboard and her ability to sustain momentum even at slow tempos, skills that made her a favorite of jazz critics.
A nine-time Grammy Award nominee, she eventually won for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1999 for her album I Remember Miles, produced by Seidel.
Horn was named a 2005 National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master, the highest honor bestowed on U.S. jazz musicians. She died on Oct. 20 of that year.
Producer Feldman said the new release will help preserve Horn’s influential legacy. “We want this CD and album book to remind us why she was great, why she mattered,” he said.
Live At The 4 Queens will be released with the participation of KNPR Las Vegas. Sound restoration was overseen by George Klabin and Fran Gala, and the album’s packaging was the creation of Resonance designer Burton Yount. The album is available for pre-order on iTunes.
For more information, visit the Resonance Records website.
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“He’s constructing intelligent musical sentences that connect seamlessly, which is the most important part of linear playing,” Charles McPherson said of alto saxophonist Sonny Red.
Feb 27, 2024 1:40 PM
“I might not have felt this way 30 to 40 years ago, but I’ve reached a point where I can hear value in what people…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
