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JJ 04/65: Horace Silver – Song For My Father

Sixty years ago Gerald Lascelles welcomed the swinging elements of Silver's new album while worrying slightly about his dalliance with unconventional tempi and forms. First published in Jazz Journal April 1965

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The smiling benevolent face on the cover is that of Horace’s father, to whom the album and title piece are dedicated. The basis of this theme is, like all but one, Horace’s original and related to what he describes as ‘authentic bossa nova beat’, as opposed to the stereotyped version most often heard. All the (a) tracks are by his new quintet, which features Carmell Jones on trumpet, Joe Henderson on tenor, and the vivacious Roger Humphries on drums. It is Henderson and Humphries who emerge trium­phant, along with the leader, on this album, showing themselves to be full of ideas.

Song opens with that rather dry ensemble sound which comes from a trumpet/tenor front line, and Silver’s piano is immensely active, plugging that lifting bossa rhythm to the limit before Joe takes over. The minor blues is expressed in Natives, where Jones leads, well backed by Humphries; Henderson follows, frenzied but compact, with a strong Coltrane influence in parts. Cutie is by the old quintet, with the accent on Horace’s piano, possibly the best of his solo excursions on this album. Drummer Brooks is impressive, and carries the Indian influence as far as the composer allows him to. There is a brooding thought about Qué Pasa, mostly related to the minor theme adopted by Silver, and accentuated by the two horns. Many readers may regard Joe Henderson’s The Kicker as the pièce de résistance in this album, since it is one of those up-tempo swingers which lets everyone get off the ground, and Joe himself contributes one of the best solos of his recorded career. Woman is a trio track, in which Silver concentrates on the lyrical qualities of his piano playing – the theme, incidentally, is not related to Benny Carter’s of the same title, written over twenty years earlier. As an amplification of Horace’s flexibility at the piano it is im­portant, and releases some of the tension built up in the previous tracks.

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The whole album is important for its presenta­tion of strong swinging soloists, whose musical horizons are lifted above the level of their contemporaries, yet encompass the wealth of blues and jazz feeling which should and must remain the main concept of their music. Its limited excursions into unconventional tempi should not be regarded as a departure from the basic time-signatures which belong to the jazz repertoire.

Discography
(a) Song For My Father; (a) Natives Are Restless Tonight; (b) Calcutta Cutie (21¼ min) – (a) Qué Pasa; (a) The Kicker; (c) Lonely Woman (19½ min)
(a) Carmell Jones (tpt); Joe Henderson (ten); Horace Silver (p): Teddy Smith (bs); Roger Humphries (d). 1964?
(b) Blue Mitchell (tpt); Junior Cook (ten); Silver (p); Gene Taylor (bs); Roy Brooks (d). 1963?
(c) as (b) but without Mitchell and Cook. 1963?
(Blue Note BN 185 12inLP 45s. 3d.)

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