Performing on stage can be challenging, but doing so when you’re due any day? That’s legendary. Well, this is exactly what happened one October evening in 1958 when D.C. artist Shirley Horn took to the stage of the iconic Howard Theatre to perform George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Suite at nine months pregnant.
“The whole band was surprised to see me because they knew I was going to have this baby,” Horn later recalled[1]. Her signature slow and soft singing style took on new meaning as she went into labor mid-performance. Determined to give her audience the show they deserved, she finished gracefully, giving birth to her daughter Rainy only a couple of hours after the finale. This has to be one of the most legendary and insane gigs in jazz history!
Shirley Horn: a D.C. star on the rise
Following in the footsteps of her grandmother, Shirley began piano lessons when she was four. She graduated from Howard University with a piano and composition degree in classical music. Influenced by artists like Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, she switched to jazz, eventually releasing her debut album Embers and Ashes. The record attracted the attention of Miles Davis[2], who invited her to play sets during his show at the Village Vanguard in NYC. Soon after, Horn was offered a contract by Quincy Jones at Mercury Records.
Between the late 1960s and the late 1970s, she decided to prioritize raising her young daughter and not leave Washington D.C. Contrary to popular belief, she never retired. Do you really think that someone who chose to finish her set despite being in labor would retire early just like that?
A new chapter for Shirley
In 1978, Denmark’s SteepleChase Records came knocking down Shirley’s door to invite her to perform with drummer Billy Hart and bassist Buster Williams. With Rainy being 20, she could focus on her passion and recorded A Lazy Afternoon, marking her return to global stages like North Sea Jazz Festival, where two of her albums were recorded[3].
Horn then recorded Here’s To Life, whose same-titled hit became her signature song. Soon after, Light Out of Darkness (A Tribute to Ray Charles), I Love You, Paris and I Remember Miles were released with Verve, all reaching number one on the Billboard jazz chart. During her career, Horn was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards for I Remember Miles.
If you’re a fan of jazz and want to be taken back to the Golden Era of Jazz, head to The Howard Theatre this season to catch The Jazz Room, a groovy 60-minute show that brings the essence of the genre.
Footnotes:
1. From Jezebel Filmworks, “Shirley Horn: Sassard & Blowed” YouTube video, 30:34, May 12, 2016, originally aired on BET On Jazz.
2. Ibid.
3. John Fordham, “Shirley Horn”, The Guardian, 25 October 2005