A LAZY AFTERNOON

Description

One of the recording sessions that helped Shirley Horn relaunch her career after taking time off to raise her daughter, A Lazy Afternoon is an excellent studio set with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. A consistently effective singer who provided her own top-notch piano accompaniment, Horn’s almost conversational singing style works very well, whether she is playing a fine old “I’m Old Fashioned” or delivering a contagious, lush interpretation of a ballad like “A Lazy Afternoon.” In addition to well-known material, she uncovers lost gems such as Gordon Jenkins’s “My Home” (presented in a funky, narrative style) and Peggy Lee’s swinging, overlooked song “Take a Little Time to Smile.” The only instrumental is an extended workout on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Gentle Rain.”