Silver's Blue

Silver's Blue is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver recorded for the Columbia label in 1956 featuring performances by Silver with Joe Gordon, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, and Kenny Clarke and another session with Donald Byrd and Art Taylor replacing Gordon and Clarke.^[2] The Allmusic review by Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album 3 stars and states "Two sessions in the mid-'50s produced the material for this album, which despite or perhaps because of being one of the historical early recordings of the Horace Silver Quintet, was later treated to a confusing mess of reissues, some of which never really mentioned what was so historic about the material in the first place. Maybe there was no reason to, since by the new millennium the type of groovy, funky jazz Silver was famous for had become so in demand that any recording of the authentic item was considered coated with golden fairy dust".^[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Horace Silver except as indicated

1. "Silver's Blue" - 7:44
2. "To Beat or Not to Beat" - 4:03
3. "How Long Has This Been Going On?" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) - 4:17
4. "I'll Know" (Frank Loesser) - 7:24
5. "Shoutin' Out" - 6:33
6. "Hank's Tune" (Hank Mobley) - 5:26
7. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (Buddy Bernier, Jerry Brainin) - 11:28

• Recorded in NYC on June 2 (tracks 2, 3 & 5), June 17 (tracks 1 & 4), and June 18 (tracks 6 & 7), 1956.

Personnel

• Horace Silver - piano
• Hank Mobley - tenor saxophone
• Doug Watkins - bass
• Donald Byrd - trumpet (tracks 1, 4, 6 & 7)
• Joe Gordon - trumpet (tracks 2, 3 & 5)
• Kenny Clarke - drums (tracks 2, 3 & 5)
• Art Taylor - drums (tracks 1, 4, 6 & 7)

References