New accompanist, same Shirley Horn

The heart and soul of Shirley Horn’s music has always been the symbiotic connection between her voice and her piano. Intimately linked in every way, it is one of the jazz world’s most extraordinary combinations.

Horn’s performance Tuesday at Feinstein’s at the Cinegrill, however, presented her in a different musical setting. Complications from diabetes have made it difficult for her to perform at the piano (although plans are in the works to create a device that would allow her to return to the keyboard in the near future).

Instead, she sang from a wheelchair, accompanied by pianist George Mesterhazy, bassist Ed Howard and her longtime drummer, Steve Williams. Minus Horn’s piano, that’s only one-third of the instrumental trio that provided her musical settings for decades. (Bassist Charles Ables died in 2001.) The question was how her magic might survive in this drastically new environment.

After five decades performing from a piano bench, she made the transition to the wheelchair with grace and ease. And it was obvious that the familiar, feisty Shirley Horn was very much present when she complained -- with good reason -- about the lack of subtleties in the room’s bright spotlights.

Her cognac-smooth voice was as marvelous as ever, her capacity to deliver lyrics in utterly believable fashion remains one of the marvels of the vocal world, whatever the genre. Understandably, given her separation from the keyboard, she sang fewer of her glacially paced ballads. But her rendering of Lennon and McCartney’s “Yesterday” was breathtaking, and the climactic “Here’s to Life” found poignancy in every line.

The balance of the set -- chosen spontaneously by Horn -- was a masterpiece of programming, from the easy grooves of “How Am I to Know” and “Nice ‘n’ Easy” to the funky sensuality of “Fever.” Filled with the kind of far-ranging, musically inclusive selections that best suited her current musical environment, it was a mesmerizing display of Horn’s inimitable sensitivity, sophistication and artistry.

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Shirley Horn

Where: Feinstein’s at the Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

When: Today-Saturday. Showtimes: 8 p.m. today and Friday; 8 and 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Price: $65-$75 (includes show plus 3-course dinner; does not include drinks, tax or gratuity). Limited number of seats available for $20 cover and two-drink minimum.

Info: (323) 769-7269