Originals

To the poster above, "original compositions" is the operative phrase here. Art Tatum and Louis Armstrong, while spectacular interpreters, are still mainly interpreters of other people's compositions. I personally think Monk and Mingus were more important composers, at any rate, but Horace Silver is another biggie.

get it!

If you like Jazz you have to check this guy out. I haven't tried this one yet but will. This guy Chris Kelsey of All Music Guide, says "Certainly, no one has ever contributed a larger and more vital body of original compositions to the jazz canon." Um Wow. Every heard of Armstrong? Tatum? Don't think Horace is all that, but everything I ever heard by the guy is very sweet.

Horace is on Blue Note

I really like this album, even if I'm sad I bought the CD before I realized it was on emusic. If you're into the soulful post-bop he was recording for Blue Note at the time (Tokyo Blues, Horace Scope, Blowin the Blues Away), just before Song For My Father, you'll probably love this. Plenty of cookin' tracks, my favorite is Tokyo Blues. Another reviewer has asked where the remainder of his recordings are. Well, they're on Blue Note and, more recently, Impulse. Neither of the conglomerate parents of these labels (EMI and MCA) are likely to release anything to emusic anytime soon.

Where's Horace?

Horace Silver has been an jazz innovator, educator and leader for over 50 years. This recording of a concert in 1962 is good, but it's just not representative of Horace's work. Where's Doodlin' or Song for my Father? Where's The Preacher, Horace Scope, or the Nica's Dream? Emusic has a great jazz section, but Horace Silver's great recordings with the Jazz Messengers, and other bands are "conspicuous by their absense". We want more Horace Silver, and we want it now!

Horace Silver is not only important because of his contributions as a pianist/composer; he’s also been a first-rate talent scout (much like Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and Art Blakey). From Donald Byrd to Joe Henderson to Tom Harrell, so many of Silver’s sidemen have come to be recognized as serious jazz heavyweights. The hard bopper led his share of five-star groups — especially in the ’50s and ’60s — but if any one Silver combo went down in history as his most important, it was the 1959-1964 quintet with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxman Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Roy Brooks. And that cohesive group is the one that Silver leads on Paris Blues, which contains previously unreleased performances from an October 6, 1962, appearance at the Olympia Theater in Paris. The concert was a Norman Granz presentation, and like a lot of Granz-produced concerts, it was taped. However, the recording remained in the can for 40 years, and didn’t see the light of day until Fantasy released Paris Blues on Pablo in 2002. Pablo is an appropriate place for the CD because Pablo, like Verve, is a label that Granz founded. Silver’s quintet is in good form during an hourlong set that boasts extended performances of “Filthy McNasty,” “Doin’ the Thing,” and “Where You At” as well as “The Tokyo Blues” and “Sayonara Blues.” All of the tunes last at least ten minutes, and “Sayonara Blues” lasts no less than 16 minutes — no one can claim that Silver and his sidemen don’t have enough room to stretch out. Paris Blues isn’t quite essential, but it’s still an enjoyable hard bop CD that Silver’s more devoted fans will welcome with open arms. – Alex Henderson

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Better than the Village Gate recordings

alfa10

Horace Silver with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxman Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Roy Brooks. Recording date: previously unreleased performances from an October 6, 1962, appearance at the Olympia Theater in Paris.