About Shirley Horn
Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with nearly incomparable independence and ability on the piano while singing, something described by arranger Johnny Mandel as "like having two heads", and for her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, which was described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as "like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice". Horn formed her first jazz piano trio when she was 20. According to jazz journalist James Gavin, the small New York City record label Stere-O-Craft discovered Horn in Washington, D.C., and brought her to New York, to record her first album, 1960's Embers and Ashes. Horn had recorded with violinist Stuff Smith in Washington, D.C., in 1959, as a pianist in one of the rhythm sections featured on Cat on a Hot Fiddle. By 1962, Horn had attracted the attention of Mercury Records vice-president (and jazz arranger) Quincy Jones, who signed Horn to Mercury.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.