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Horace Silver: Jazz Profile
Blue Note/Virgin Records
Rs. 400 (CD)
NOT LONG ago, I reviewed Horace Silver's Six Pieces of Silver, an album that gave a fair idea of one of the founders of the mid-'50s movement in jazz called hard bop. Silver was not exactly an unsung hero of that genre, but he was certainly under-sung in comparison to some others who caught the public's fancy better.
The jazz cognoscenti, however, never undervalued his prowess as both pianist and composer. This album that puts together a representative selection of his work in both departments. Most of the pieces are performed by a typical hard bop line-up comprising trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, bass, and drums, but the last two use a biggish band that adds on trombones, more trumpets and saxes, and flutes.
On the fast-paced opening number, "Safari'', interestingly, Silver leads, among others, Art Blakey, the drummer who later became much more famous as a founder of hard bop. Express solos by tenor sax, trumpet and piano precede Blakey's, on which he shows the panache that characterised his work as a leader in later years.
Other numbers too are fast or medium-paced, all marked by the neat dovetailing of the instruments in both ensemble passages and solo improvisations. Silver's greatest hit, "Song for My Father", stands out for its catchy tune and driving rhythm, piano intro and piano solo, while "Finger Poppin" has a quick-fire series of exchanges between tenor sax, trumpet and drums to boost the excitement.
Joe Henderson: Our Thing
Blue Note/Virgin Records
Rs. 400 (CD)
BORN IN 1937, Joe Henderson died in 2001 at the end of a career in which he received less recognition than he deserved, and got it somewhat late — in the '90s. This be-bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist was known for his unique tone and the intensity of his playing, the latter quality almost as strong as John Coltrane's, if somewhat more subtle.
Recorded in 1963, Our Thing was among the works that, as a reissue, benefited from the recognition of its author three decades later. Henderson is joined by Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Andrew Hill on piano, Eddie Khan on bass and Pete LaRoca on drums. Dorham was, like Henderson, undervalued, in fact even more so, but his warm, pure tone was greatly loved by his famous contemporaries, who took him in on several recordings that would dot the shelves of any serious jazz collector.
All six tracks (including two different takes of the opener, "Teeter Totter") are fast or medium-paced. Henderson and Dorham take turns over the order of the first two solos, usually followed by Hill, and occasionally Khan and La Roca. "Our Thing" and the two versions of "Teeter Totter" (with Henderson and Dorham taking the first solo on one version each), all taken at a brisk pace, are the pick of the album.
As an early signal of Henderson's talent, the music on the album is less strikingly original than some of his later work and certainly less introspective, but still a portent of good work to come.
JAZZEBEL
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