Customer Reviews

Jody Grind

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Silver's bands, like Art Blakey's, served -- and is still serving -- as one of the great training grounds for young jazz musicians in the '60s. "The Jody Grind" features a youthful Woody Shaw joining his brash trumpet sound with the fiery James Spaulding on alto and flute and the forgotten (unfortunately) Tyrone Washington, who contributes a hard-edged tenor. Silver, as usual, composed all the tunes, and nearly all of them are memorable.

Silver is a master at stripping melodies and rhythms down to their essentials. But that doesn't mean that his tunes are simplistic. For example, the great "Mexican Hat Dance," as the title suggests, cooks up a spicy Latin beat that is very hummable. After you listen to it a few times, though, you realize that the infectious melody is composed of some tricky twists and turns that the horn players negotiate flawlessly.

In fact, Silver makes it look easy on the whole release, effortlessly spinning off melodies and riffs in his soloing and catching you with an irresistible hook on every tune, from the funk of "Grease Piece" to the elegant sophistication of "Blue Silver." Forty minutes go by in a flash.

The entire band responds eloquently under Silver's leadership. In fact, another major strength of the release is the contrast of sounds in the horns. Shaw is hard-edged and fluid on trumpet; Spaulding edgy on alto and mellow on flute; and Washington digs deeply into the hard bop bag with a soulful tenor.

All of Silver's Blue Note work is worth owning, but "The Jody Grind," for my money, represents one of his most consistent and satisfying efforts. Highly recommended.

Horace Silver is in full flight on the "Jody Grind." He is one of the grand masters of hard bop, and it is little wonder that so much of his music has been used in "acid jazz." Silver has had a very prolific career, starting with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and evolving into one of the prime figures in jazz. Silver draws from a wide variety of sources, but lurking in the background seems to be his Cape Verdean roots. There is a loose quality to his music that is very appealling, and it is so easy to be drawn into his sinuous sounds.

This is the HS album I find myself listening to the most. Its funky, infectious groove belies the rhythmic and melodic complexity (par for the Silver course, but even more so on this album). It's both energetic and complex, which explains Silver's success with critics and novice jazz lovers alike. If, like me, you grew up with Charlie Brown specials on TV, and your appreciation of jazz began with the music you heard there (Vince Guaraldi, God rest his soul) then this album will knock you out. It practically defines the "hard bop" sound. Do your soul a favor and get this album.

one of my HS favorites along with Cape Verdean Blues and Songs For My Father... TJG has a great groove throughout, the musicians push each other and Roger Humphries is terrific! Horace's compositions are fun & funky :) highly recommended!!

I am hardly a jazz expert, but I know good music when I hear it. This was the first jazz CD I bought, and I now own close to 100 but this still might be my favorite. I wanted to start with something relatively accessible and I made a great choice.

The title track is simply irresistable (yes, I'm a Robert Palmer fan too). You know the famous line from Jerry Maguire, "You had me at 'hello'"? Well, Horace had me at the opening chords of this cut. "Mexican Hip Dance" and the rest of the tracks are not far behind.

I could listen to The Jody Grind over and over. Having explored much of the Blue Note catalog, including works by geniuses like Wayne Shorter and Eric Dolphy, I know this is not the most challenging of music, but it certainly ranks among the most infectious. "Bright and tight" is one way to describe it. If someone has used that phrase before, forgive me!

The Jody Grind is soul-jazz at its finest. Highly recommended.

John Fordham's review above really doesn't do justice to this recording. The classic Silver quintet sound is there, Van Gelder got one of the best drum sounds ever on this session, it's an early recording by the late trumpeter Woody Shaw, and half of the tracks add a third sax/flute from Jimmy Spaulding, who gives HS a chance to write richer front-line harmonies. There's no "Sister Sadie" here, but there's enduring enjoyment instead -- I wore out my original LP copy. With his next albums, HS began moving away from the tight group sound which served him so well in the 50s and 60s, so this one is really the last of its kind.

the title track alone is worth the cost of admission...one of my favorites!

This is one of the lamer Blue Note album PHOTOS, but if you judge this one by the cover, you're missing one of the best albums the label ever cut!

How often do you find a 60's Blue Note jazz album where NONE of the tracks are standards -- where there's no noodly space music passing for original compositions, and where EVERY. ONE. ROCKS. THE. HOUSE. Here it is: 'The Jody Grind.' It coulda been a Blue Note 'Best of Horace Silver' all by its lonesome. Silver and his sidemen at their most electrifying: Virtuosos all, blowing cool and funky in the best Blue Note vein. Horace Silver, O Mito!

P.S.: Just have to ask. Hasn't anybody else here noticed that 'Grease Piece' is an inside joke on Bill Evans' 1958 'Peace Piece'?

P.P.S.: If you're contemplating the HS 'Retrospective' collection, you're going to need this disc too. Else you'll miss all but two of the tracks Silver offered up on this brilliant album -- that is to say, you're going to lose out on Mary Lou, Dimples, Grease Piece and Blue Silver.

Silver leads a first rate ensemble here and his composition work is excellent.