A Horn o’ plenty jazz benefit

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, various groups within the entertainment community banded together to raise money and spirits and to show their solidarity. However, Robert Carmack, founder/president of the Atlanta International Jazz Society, noticed there was no organized gathering of the jazz community, so he set out to do something about that. Turns out he was already in discussions with Shirley Horn regarding an Atlanta show.

“I saw these fund-raising efforts by different music and movie stars, but no jazz,” Carmack says. “I said, ‘Why can’t we put together an event here, with Shirley anchoring it?’ From there, it just snowballed.”

The result is “Shirley Horn and Friends,” a Red Cross benefit that takes place Sun., Nov. 18, at Earthlink Live. The show is hosted by the AIJS, with support from WCLK (91.9 FM), the Savannah-based Coastal Jazz Association and the Hilton Head (S.C.) Jazz Society. It features Horn in roughly a 75-minute set, preceded by a remarkable series of legendary guest performers, including the Tommy Flanagan Trio with Allan Harris, pianist McCoy Tyner with saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, local vocalist Audrey Shakir with pianist Barry Harris, and appearances by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Hank Jones, vocalist Sandra Booker, saxophonist Dale Fielder, local drummer Bernard Linnette’s Interactive Sextet and many more.

Other than Horn, each performer’s set should last 15 or 20 minutes, Carmack says. It’s highly unusual, too, for many of these artists to appear in a supporting role. But they were willing to do it, he adds, because Horn is involved and also because they “saw an opportunity for the jazz community to come together and make a statement.”

“Shirley Horn and Friends” takes place Sun., Nov. 18, at EarthLink Live.??