Jazz Articles about Horace Silver

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Horace Silver: Live at Newport '58

by Greg Camphire
February 14, 2008

Blue Note continues to bless fans with hidden gems from deep in its vaults with Live at Newport '58, a previously unreleased set catching Horace Silver in the midst of his ascent as a major creative force. Featuring a transitional line-up of the pianist's revolving quintet as they headline the famed festival, the band can be heard drawing the hard bop blueprint that would be emulated for generations after.

The four extended tunes are all Silver originals: an unusually structured ...

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Horace Silver: Live At Newport '58

by C. Michael Bailey
February 7, 2008

Horace Silver Live At Newport '58 Blue Note 2007

For a jazz artist of such longevity, pianist Horace Silver has precious few live recordings as leader. Before Paris Blues: Olympia Theater, Paris, 1962 (Fantasy, 2003) was released, Silver's single live recording was Doin' The Thing At The Village Gate (Blue Note, 2006/1961). This fact makes any newly discovered and released live recording somewhat of an event. Enter Horace Silver Live At Newport '58.

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Horace Silver Quintet: Silver's Serenade

by Samuel Chell
January 31, 2007

What's with the producers at Blue Note/EMI? Or is it engineer Rudy Van Gelder who decides what gets reissued? Silver's Serenade is vintage, nicely representative music by the pianist-composer's best known ensemble, but it was never out of print. By contrast, one of the few Silver sessions for which the term “inspired" might apply--Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet (1958)--languishes in the archives, currently available only as a pricey Japanese import.

Recorded in 1963, Silver's Serenade was ...

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Horace Silver: Doin' the Thing

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 31, 2006

Cosa si può dire di intelligente e inedito su un disco come questo? Nulla o quasi, per quanti sforzi si facciano. Anche se non si tratta di una di quelle opere che hanno fatto la storia del jazz, dal punto di vista del linguaggio ci troviamo di fronte a un prototipo jazzistico, un'icona stilistica, un classico che ci sembra di aver sempre avuto nelle orecchie. Il contesto della registrazione è quello del Village Gate nelle sere del 19 e 20 ...

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Horace Silver: Doin' The Thing - At The Village Gate

by Hrayr Attarian
October 9, 2006

Calling any of Horace Silver's Blue Note recordings outstanding is almost redundant. One, however, is especially unique, not only because of its quality, but because it is the only live recording of his most famous quintet. Although it was recorded 45 years ago, this CD has the power to transport one back in time to the smoky room at Village Gate where one feels the raw energy of the live performance. The music is quintessential hard bop ...

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The Horace Silver Quintet: Horace-Scope

by Samuel Chell
July 4, 2006

It's highly doubtful there's been a more instantaneously infectious recent release than this new Rudy Van Gelder edition of a 1960 Horace Silver master session. Without as much as a pickup note, the opening measure places the listener in stride with as irresistible a tune as Silver ever composed: “Strollin.'" The remaining pieces are no less addictive; and on each, Silver's compositional flare is as evident on the internal ensemble choruses, transitions, and background riffs as the in-and-out choruses.

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Horace Silver: Silver's Blue

by Samuel Chell
June 18, 2006

Horace Silver has always been an effective, if limited, catch-phrase soloist, an exemplary hard bop accompanist, and a brilliant miniaturist as a composer, contributing pieces that continue to surface and surprise with their inventive, irresistible melodies and inviting harmonic progressions. Unfortunately, the popular and critical success Silver realized with 1964's Song for My Father led to more of the same--formulaic tunes like the title song, restricted solo space for his musicians, and stiff presentations (the three times I caught him ...