WASHINGTON, D.C. — The DC Jazz Festival reports that Washington, D.C., has always been a city where jazz lives, breathes, and evolves.

Today, we begin a special series from our Artistic Director Willard Jenkins. This series shines a spotlight on our hometown jazz heroes—the artists who helped shape the sound of our city and continue to inspire generations of musicians around the world.

First up is Shirley Horn.

She is renowned primarily for her singular vocal prowess, and particularly, her way with a ballad. Her first instrument was the piano, and her musical talents led her to be recruited by fellow NEA Jazz Master Carmen McRae to lead her piano-bass-drums trio accompaniment on McRae’s 1991 album "Sarah: Dedicated to You," a tribute to their fellow jazz vocal great Sarah Vaughan.

A native Washingtonian, Shirley Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University, forming her first jazz piano trio at age 20. Her early piano influences were Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, and Ahmad Jamal. Both Horn and Jamal were championed by Miles Davis, and they share common piano stylistic threads—the use of open space coupled with subtle, understated styles of music making.