Lena Hankins

Although the very attractive Lena Horne has never really been a jazz singer, her vocals are generally of interest to jazz listeners and she has occasionally recorded in jazz settings. This Bluebird CD is pretty definitive of the first half of her career. Horne sings a pair of ballads with Charlie Barnet's 1941 orchestra and two songs (including "Don't Take Your Love From Me") with a unique Artie Shaw-led all-star band that includes Benny Carter, Red Allen, and a string section. The remainder of the disc features Horne backed by studio orchestras, and the results are superior (if sometimes overly dramatic) renditions of standards as rendered by a top-notch cabaret singer. Highlights include "Stormy Weather," "Ill Wind," "Moanin' Low," "As Long As I Live," and "It's All Right With Me."

It is difficult not to love Lena Horne. Recorded when she was 77, this live CD finds the ageless singer sounding as if she were 57 at the most (and the photo of her on the cover makes her look 47). Horne talks the lyrics a little more than in the past but she cuts loose in spots with power, performs superior standards, takes part of a Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn medley as a duet with bassist Ben Brown and is not shy to hold long notes. on six of the songs 11 horns from the Count Basie Orchestra riff and play harmonies behind her; otherwise Horne is joined by her usual quartet with pianist Mike Renzi and guitarist Rodney Jones. The well-rounded set is Lena Horne's most rewarding recording in years.

Lena Horne was an international jazz superstar and a dynamic performer of striking appearance and elegant style. Singer/actress Lena Horne's primary occupation was nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. In conjunction with her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 and brought her three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989; she appeared in 16 feature films and several shorts between 1938 and 1978; she performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, in 1981-1982; and she sang and acted on radio and television.

We'll Be Together Again is a 1994 album by Lena Horne. At the 1995 Grammy Awards, Horne was nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for this album. Lena Horne is nine years older than the 70-something Tony Bennett, and like him has lost a good bit of power and tone from her voice. Unlike Bennett, though, she doesn't try to bull her way through her vocal limits on We'll Be Together Again; she stays within those limits and fashions a striking testament to the subtleties of romance and friendship in one's autumnal years. Billy Strayhorn was one of Horne's very best off-stage friends, and seven of the 16 tracks here were written by Strayhorn and/or his partner Duke Ellington. Three more songs–"My Buddy," "Old Friend" and the title tune–are heartfelt remembrances of those once dearest to Horne and now gone–Strayhorn, her ex-husband, her son, her hairdresser and her wardrobe mistress.

Avid presents four classic Lena Horne albums plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD. "Stormy Weather", "Give the Lady What She Wants", "At the Waldorf Astoria", "A Friend of Yours" plus the rare E.P. "At the Cocoanut Grove".
The liner notes for our first album "Stormy Weather" very accurately describe Avid's latest recruit to our four classic album series. "In singing there is Ella. In night clubs there is Hildegarde. In the movies there is Lana… and in all three- in singing, night clubs and movies there is the entertainer supreme - Lena… a fascinating mixture of talent, charm and beauty… This is Lena". Across these classic albums we can hear Lena covering the songs of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke on "A Friend Of Yours"…