No thanks to the paucity of musical genius in the latter half of the 1990s, tribute albums to the departed just kept pouring forth, although in
Shirley Horn's case, she was repaying an old personal debt to her subject. After all, it was
Miles Davis who originally got
Horn out of D.C. in 1960 as his opening act at the Village Vanguard and contributed his trumpet to one of her comeback albums (1990's
You Won't Forget Me). Not only that,
Horn's understated, laconic, deceptively casual ballad manner is a natural fit for the brooding
Miles persona, and she doesn't have to change a thing in this relaxed, wistfully sung, solidly played collection. She doesn't actually perform any
Davis compositions; everything here consists of standards that
Miles covered or transformed in the 1950s, including three numbers from Porgy and Bess.
Roy Hargrove adds his effective muted
Miles imitations on "I Fall In Love Too Fast" and open flurries on "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'"; and
Toots Thielemans makes like a long, lonesome train whistle on "Summertime." Former
Davis cohorts
Ron Carter and
Al Foster join the rhythm section in a remarkably searching, extended "My Man's Gone Now," the only track which takes note of the electric music that consumed so much of
Miles' output (in this case, inspired by the We Want Miles version, not the more familiar
Gil Evans interpretation). In a sad way, the very idea of a
Miles tribute is an oxymoronic denial of the ever-restless spirit of this genius who didn't believe in looking backwards. But
Shirley Horn certainly serves the man's sensitive side well. ~ Richard S. Ginell