Customer Reviews

Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers

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This is the first Jazz Messengers album which soon would go under the tutelage of Art Blakey. From there (read the book Hardbop Academy) the group would go through many line up changes and launch the careers of musicians from inspired (Wayne Shorter) to derivative (Wynton Marsalis) and many in between. This has to be my favorite Jazz Messengers album because most of the pieces on it would become jazz standards. Adding elements of soul and later funk to bebop to create the sub-genre known as hardbop does not sound like much today but it was an act to take away the idea of jazz as music for purely intellectuals and return it to its roots but still keeping it advancing in a new direction. Ever jazz musician with any degree of awareness would name check this album. But forgot the hyperbole. If you are a fan of classic hardbop, sooner or later you will run into this album and when you do, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.

The Preacher and Creepin In are insanely snappy, making this my favorite Silver recording. Early in the LP era here, this album always had good sound, now made even better with this reissue. The tunes are very soulful; this is not reminiscent of the pedal-to-the-metal Blakey/Silver albums with Clifford Brown @ Birdland. HS and the JM is much more of a hard-bop/bluesy album, the likes of which Silver seemingly effortlessly produced over the following 15 years after this was released.

"Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers" drifted briefly out-of-print over the past couple of years, but now makes a permanent return to the Blue Note catalog with this remastered RVG reissue. For those confused by the title and thinking -- "Isn't it supposed to be Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers?" -- don't be alarmed. The Messengers began as a collective group and this album actually pre-dates the JM albums under Blakey's leadership. Regardless, this classic jazz album was recorded over two sessions -- December 13, 1954 and February 6, 1955. The lineup is the same that would reappear in a few short months on the "Cafe Bohemia" recordings (see my review of Vol. 2) -- Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins and of course Silver and Blakey. The eight original Silver compositions are classic hard bop, and many of them are regarded as standards today, "The Preacher" and "Doodlin'" foremost among them. Simply put, this Silver is pure gold.

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
This is the fourth time in 50 years that I have bought this album not counting the countless times I have given it as a gift. It is the definative album of what 50's funk was. You just had to say "Horace Silver" and you defined a whole movement from the 50's. It is really the real beginning of the jazz messengers and a recording that was important in defining the new hard bop movement of the era. Should be a part of every jazz lover's library.

This bubbling brew of jazz by Horace and the Messengers is filled to the brim with funk, humor, and attitude. If you like Blue Note, or jazz in general, this is a cd you MUST have. It is certainly one of the greatest jazz recordings of all time with an all star lineup, including Hank Mobley and Art Blakey.

This CD got me hooked on Horace Silver and started my journey on exploring all of the great Blue Note artists of the 50's and 60's.

The Preacher and Doodlin' are classic Horace Silver compositions.

all time.

This was recorded late in 1954 and finished in early 1955 and is the first recording to feature what would later be called Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers after pianist Silver left later in 1955. The song Doodlin' was my introduction to this great band when I heard it on the Ken Burns Jazz set (which is a great introduction to jazz) and it kicked many buttocks. Hank Mobley is one of the most underrated saxophonists ever and Kenny Dorham is also underrated. Once Dorham showed up Miles Davis at a club so that's how great Dorham played the trumpet, and Art Blakey is superhuman as always. Silver is one of the best pianists I've ever heard and is right up there with Monk.

This is one of the best reissues I've ever seen since I thought this album was long gone. Now if only Columbia/Legacy could rerelease the Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra recordings.

At one time this was the album most frequently cited in the college jazz history and jazz appreciation texts as the essential introduction to, if not example of, the so-called "hard-bop" movement. It's still easy to recommend--especially to students of the music, those who are curious about its history (coming from polka-land, I learned about jazz primarily though books), and to musicians (not only have all of these tunes been transcribed in the fake books, but note-for-note arrangements written out for small ensemble are readily available). Moreover, the tunes have become standards, with some of them put to words by vocalese lyricists like Jon Hendricks. Above all, every aspiring musician will want to learn "The Preacher" (based on "Show Me the Way to Go Home" chords and performed these days even by traditional, "dixieland" bands).

Another reason to make this one a priority is the composer and personnel. Horace Silver has emerged as the "Duke Ellington of small-ensemble jazz," someone who may have been equalled from time to time but has never been superseded as a composer and arranger of jazz compositions for small ensembles. The ubiquitous, still-in-favor instrumentation of trpt-tenor frontline plus piano, bass, drums rhythm owes more to the success of The Jazz Messengers than any other group. Moreover, this group was, imo, as good if not better than any other ensemble (later, the Messengers would split up into Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and The Horace Silver Quintet). Kenny Dorham lacked the swagger, drama and sheer electricity of a Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard, but as critic Dan Morgenstern once said, his name is practically "synonymous" with "underrated." From his recordings with Bird (Charlie Parker) through Max Roach, Horace, Art Blakey, and his later solo sessions, he's a joy to listen to, never predictable, always inventive and lyrical. And "lyrical" should be a synonym for Hank Mobley, the quintessential "singing" tenor player, simply responsive to the chord changes, never forcing his solos, never posturing, never adhering to an improvisational "system" but perhaps deeper in the blues than any other tenor soloist. Art Blakey, Doug Watkins and Silver in the back row--you couldn't ask for stronger support.

Just a couple of caveats: as important as is this session, it's not necessarily the "best" by these musicians. "The Jazz Messengers" on Columbia has practically the same musicians (Donald Byrd replaces Dorham) and shows a more mature and complex Silver, with tunes like "Nica's Dream" and "Ecarole" (this latter tune one of Silver's most extended works, with voicings and textures that make 2 horns sound like a big band). There's also "The Jazz Messengers" on Blue Note--the most popular album by Blakey because of "Moanin'" and the Golson tunes, but there is no Silver or Mobley presence on the date, which necessarily places it lower. It doesn't take much looking to come up with 10-12 albums with vital, unforgettable melodies, harmonizations and voicings by Silver--albums more complex, challenging, and satisfying than the hugely popular but reductive and eventually tiresome "Song for My Father." Happy searching! Be sure to come up with albums that include "Senor Blues," Ecarole," "Nica's Dream," "Strollin'," "Silver's Serenade," "Blowin' the Blues Away," "The Outlaw," Moon Rays" and a number of other gems, all "masterpieces in miniature." The Horace Silver website is an excellent introduction, with examples of some of Horace's own favorites--just don't expect to find "Song for My Father" among them, even though the royalties from that song alone would have supported a comfortable life for the always restless, intense Mr. Silver.

Most of my bebop is bought without ever hearing it first. It's what Downbeat Magazine used to call the "blindfold test". Based on the personnel,the tracks,and the record label, I have rarely been disappointed. This CD is no exception. It's Horace Silver!!! How can you go wrong? This time he brought Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins and Art Blakey with him. They opened with a thing called "Room 608", an old-fashioned hardbop theme that has everybody jumpin'. KD comes out jammin' hard. Horace solos,backing himself up. Hank swings, with Horace backing him up, too, before Art makes a brief statement. "Creepin In" is a very laid-back slow jam theme. Hank leads off the solos,followed by Kenny. They both put down 'bad' solos, especially KD 'of old'. Horace 'creeps in' beautifully, before a harmonizing close. "Stop Time" jams high-speed with good solos from KD,Hank,Horace, some exciting 'fours' between the horns and Art. "To Whom It May Concern" sounds like KD's theme with Silver's bridge. Horace solos first,bringing on Hank's smooth tenor solo. KD comes on next with good backing from Art. Doug Watkins' support is strong throughout. "Hippy" has a 'hallelujah' theme with a bebop bridge. Up-tempo; excellent but brief solo by Art. "The Preacher" themes right out of "that ol' time religion". It is 'revived', however, by some great playing by everybody. Notice Doug's work on the theme. Hank's "Hankerin'" is 'more like it'...a good bebop theme with good solos by the horns and Horace. Nice harmonic work before closing,too. Horace's "Doodlin'" should be familiar to most. A cool, mid-tempo cooker that brings out the best in Hank and Kenny. Most notable is Horace's backgroung work here. Art gets off another monster of his own, before the closing theme. This record is one reason why, if the Horace Silver name is not in your house, it should be.

During the mid 50s, a new style of jazz was emerging that was an evolved form of 40s bop artists like Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy. Horace Silver was one of the leading pioneers in this style known as hard bop, which consisted of mixed jazz and gospel elements along with more of a piano leading role. At the time, Horace Silver was playing jazz that had never been explored much before, and this album featuring him playing with Art Blakey's jazz messengers features some of his strongest jazz standards like the Preacher and Doodlin'. This album defines hard bop history and is a masterpiece for all jazz fans. Horace Silver is one of the greatest hard bop pianists and this album is definitely one of his greatest, combining gospel elements with funky jazz pieces. Essential for any jazz fan.