Lena Katina

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.

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"…

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."

The recording sessions for this album, held on three consecutive February days in 1975, were comfortable, happy and exciting. The magical flow of good feelings to and from Lena and her musicians became a musical embrace happily captured on tape. As conducted and guided by the redoubtable Michel Legrand, the band assembied by co-producer Norman Schwartz joined with Lena in inspiring and sustaining a creative ambiance rarely encountered in this age of piecemeal, assembly-line records.
The music on this recording was deftly and freely shaped to fit the very special talents of a superb singer…