|
|
Post by jazzhead on Aug 30, 2022 23:53:01 GMT
Pretty great article on Horace Silver here from Chris May/All About Jazz. Chris also gives us his Top Ten Horace Silver albums. Spoiler alert! My favourite, Blowin' The Blues Away, makes the cut! Why wouldn't it? "Horace Silver: His Only Mistake Was To Smile From a historical point of view, Silver’s cheerful face, his default countenance on stage, has done him no favours. It has fostered a perception that he was a lightweight figure, more of an entertainer than an innovator. The truth is profoundly otherwise. Silver was a radical and a pioneer. Spoiler alert: jazz can be fun." Full article: www.allaboutjazz.com/horace-silver-his-only-mistake-was-to-smile-horace-silver |
|
|
|
Post by Doom Girl on Aug 31, 2022 16:25:03 GMT
TY for the link. Silver - so much great music. I especially like watching him in performance. This clip is also notable for Billy Cobham's fine playing.
|
|
|
|
Post by gregorythefish on Sept 1, 2022 14:45:00 GMT
that's a good point about silver. he is of the jazz school of rhythm and melodic brilliance through subtlety, which is perhaps the less-appreciated school over the flashy expressionist styles of, for example, your coltranes and your birds.
|
|
|
|
Post by jazzhead on Sept 1, 2022 15:12:08 GMT
I've just finished listening to Horace Silver Live at Newport '58. Man! This is the stuff! Start to finish! His solo on Señor Blues is brilliant. Have a listen below. It starts at 3:52.
|
|
|
|
Post by bassman on Sept 1, 2022 15:12:47 GMT
that's a good point about silver. he is of the jazz school of rhythm and melodic brilliance through subtlety, which is perhaps the less-appreciated school over the flashy expressionist styles of, for example, your coltranes and your birds. And he was ***FUNKY*** like no one else around 1955! His style is still unique, and will be. |
|
|
|
Post by bassman on Sept 1, 2022 16:39:36 GMT
I've just finished listening to Horace Silver Live at Newport '58. Man! This is the stuff! Start to finish! His solo on Señor Blues is brilliant. Have a listen below. It starts at 3:52. [ ... ] Glad you like it! I recorded this from the radio before 1990, has always been one of my treasures. |
|
|
|
Post by bassman on Sept 1, 2022 18:48:34 GMT
Triggered by Jazzhead's post, I returned to Blue Note 1518 after what must have been years of neglect. Horace Silver, Dorham, Mobley, Watkins, Blakey ... one of the early Hard Bop records, and one of the best. THIS IS BLOODY GREAT. Funk from way back 1954/1955. I don't mind that early Van Gelder reverb - I dig it. And what's more: The bass sounds all right, it sounds really great! RVG used to roll off the bass on later Blue Notes, because Alfred Lion told him to. You know, needle skips on cheap record players and all that stuff ... (Prestige RVG sounds way better.)
But the music! Horace in his trademark equal eighths mode, enriching slow tempi with double time playing, melodic single note phrases, funky trills anticipating Jimmy Smith by years. Whatever hard bop had to offer, here it is. There are moments when you don't need no Sidewinder to be happy.
|
|
|
|
Post by jazzhead on Feb 28, 2023 12:56:35 GMT
Dan McClosky posted these interviews with Horace Silver a few hours ago.
Horace Silver Interview - Part One - by Dan McClosky - 1969
|
|
|
|
Post by alunsevern on Mar 25, 2023 14:10:41 GMT
Just this morning I was listening to the Horace Silver Trio Sides, the Blue Note two-fer from 1976, marvelling afresh at his funky, fleet and apparently inexhaustible inventiveness. and yet he managed to do all of that with a degree of modesty and discretion that to my mind makes his playing all the more engaging. No bluster, no 'spiritual transcendence', no exhibitionism -- just sheer, enjoyable musicality. Personally, I don't think he reached these same heights as consistently in his larger band recordings.
If you strike lucky in your choices, there is some great music to be had on that beige BN two-fer series. They can be rather prone to below-par production, however -- warps, off-centre pressings -- but I still rather like them. The Horace Silver one is indispensable, I think.
|
|
|
|
Post by bassman on Mar 26, 2023 8:00:56 GMT
Just this morning I was listening to the Horace Silver Trio Sides, the Blue Note two-fer from 1976, marvelling afresh at his funky, fleet and apparently inexhaustible inventiveness. and yet he managed to do all of that with a degree of modesty and discretion that to my mind makes his playing all the more engaging. No bluster, no 'spiritual transcendence', no exhibitionism -- just sheer, enjoyable musicality. Personally, I don't think he reached these same heights as consistently in his larger band recordings. If you strike lucky in your choices, there is some great music to be had on that beige BN two-fer series. They can be rather prone to below-par production, however -- warps, off-centre pressings -- but I still rather like them. The Horace Silver one is indispensable, I think. I'm just trying to check out the original albums on my shelf. For the time being, BLP 5018 (or, in my case, BLP 1520) will have to do, which would match tracks A1 to A8 on your twofer. Marvellous early Horace Silver - and no warp! 
Here is what Down Beat had to say about it: (Rating: ****)
Thanks for re-directing me to some of the most no-nonsense, most "ezz-thetic" jazz that there is.
|
|
|
|
Post by alunsevern on Mar 26, 2023 8:13:49 GMT
Ah, that's the one that has always confused me -- "And spotlight on drums". Is that simply because of the illustrious presence of Art Blakey?
You're very welcome, bassman. Enjoy!
|
|
|
|
Post by bassman on Mar 26, 2023 9:07:32 GMT
Ah, that's the one that has always confused me -- "And spotlight on drums". Is that simply because of the illustrious presence of Art Blakey? You're very welcome, bassman. Enjoy! No. The spotlight is on two percussion tracks with Blakey and Sabu only, "Message From Kenya" and "Nothing But The Soul", plus it includes a couple of tracks not found on BLP 5018. On the other hand, it does not include all the tracks from BLP 5018.
So, to listen to all of 5018 in one session I usually recur to the Evil Silver Disc (absolutely no warp whatsoever!  ) |
|
|
|
Post by alunsevern on Mar 26, 2023 9:41:50 GMT
Ah, that's the one that has always confused me -- "And spotlight on drums". Is that simply because of the illustrious presence of Art Blakey? You're very welcome, bassman. Enjoy! No. The spotlight is on two percussion tracks with Blakey and Sabu only, "Message From Kenya" and "Nothing But The Soul", plus it includes a couple of tracks not found on BLP 5018. On the other hand, it does not include all the tracks from BLP 5018.
So, to listen to all of 5018 in one session I usually recur to the Evil Silver Disc (absolutely no warp whatsoever! ) Ah, I see -- thank you. |
|
)