Horace Silver · I know them well

Deep into Silver

For the listener who knows the leader records. This path runs in order from 1952 to 1957 through Silver's sideman dates: his first Blue Note session, rare 10-inch and Savoy records, the other half of Birdland, the Adderleys' debut, a Dutch singer and two young tenors he found in Chicago. It is Silver as the pianist New York kept calling.

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The earliest Silver on record here
Quartet/Quintet/Sextet Lou Donaldson · Blue Note BLP 1537 · 1957
The earliest Silver on this site isn't his own date. On Friday, June 20, 1952, at WOR in New York, he played for Lou Donaldson, an alto player he had met at a rehearsal studio, with Gene Ramey on bass and Art Taylor on drums. On November 19 they were back with Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Percy Heath and Art Blakey. Silver's own first trio dates fell between the two, in October. The 1952 tracks came out first on 78s and a shared 10-inch; this 12-inch put them beside a 1954 Donaldson date, without Silver, in 1957. Two of the tunes are Silver's, "Roccus" and "Sweet Juice."
Start with
- Roccus
- Sweet Juice
- If I Love Again
Silver's "Roccus" is a minor-key Latin tune; Leonard Feather hears an Oriental flavor in it, with Silver playing a second line behind the alto. "If I Love Again" sets Mitchell beside Donaldson. Listen for how much of Silver's later style, the blues feeling and the Latin touch, is already here.
In the band
Blue Mitchell · trumpet
Blue Mitchell, a trumpeter from Miami, passed through New York in 1952 and made his first records there before three years on the road with Earl Bostic. Cannonball Adderley later steered Riverside to him. In 1958 he joined Silver's quintet and stayed until 1964, so this date is the first meeting of one of Silver's longest partnerships. He died in Los Angeles in 1979.
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A sextet for Howard McGhee
Howard McGhee Vol. 2 Howard McGhee Sextet · Blue Note BLP 5024 · 1953
On May 20, 1953, at WOR, Blue Note recorded the trumpeter Howard McGhee, one of the first bebop trumpeters of the 1940s, with a sextet of younger players: Gigi Gryce on alto and flute, Tal Farlow on guitar, Silver, Percy Heath and Walter Bolden on drums. It came out on a 10-inch LP; in 1998 Blue Note paired it on CD with a Tal Farlow quartet date. It's here to hear Silver in a different kind of band, with guitar and flute among the colors, a year before the Messengers and far from funk.
Start with
- Futurity
- Goodbye
- Shabozz
"Futurity" is a Gryce tune. "Goodbye," Gordon Jenkins's ballad, long Benny Goodman's closing theme, gives the band a slow one. Listen for how the guitar and flute change the sound around the piano, and for how Silver shares the chording with Farlow.
In the band
Gigi Gryce · alto sax
Gigi Gryce was born in Pensacola in 1925 and grew up mostly in Hartford. After Navy service he studied composition at the Boston Conservatory, and soon after reaching New York he recorded with McGhee. Later in 1953 he toured Europe with Lionel Hampton beside Clifford Brown. He co-led the Jazz Lab with Donald Byrd, ran his own publishing companies to protect composers' rights, and around 1963 left music to teach in New York schools.
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Bebop with Al Cohn
Al Cohn's Tones Al Cohn Quartet · Savoy MG 12048 · 1956
Silver worked for Savoy too. On June 23, 1953, at Van Gelder's in Hackensack, he joined the tenor player Al Cohn's quintet, with Nick Travis on trumpet and Curley Russell on bass. Our listing has Max Roach on drums; Wikipedia's credits give Tiny Kahn, the drummer on the album's 1950 half, so the sources disagree. In 1956 Savoy put the four tunes from that day beside four from 1950 with George Wallington on piano to make this 12-inch. It shows Silver at ease with players from Woody Herman's side of bebop, a long way from the funk he'd become known for.
Start with
- I'm Tellin' Ya
- Jane Street
- Ah-Moore
These are the 1953 tracks, with "That's What You Think," and the only ones with a trumpet; all are Cohn's tunes for a two-horn front line. Stephen Cook at AllMusic calls the record "at once hot and cool, vigorous and lithe," and praises its backing from top bop players. Then play the 1950 side for Wallington's piano in the same seat.
In the band
Al Cohn · tenor sax
Al Cohn, born in Brooklyn in 1925, made his name in Woody Herman's "Four Brothers" saxophone section of the late 1940s. He was a busy arranger as well as a tenor player, and from the mid-1950s he had a long partnership with Zoot Sims, often billed simply as Al and Zoot. He wrote all of Silver's four tunes here. He died in 1988.
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The rest of the Birdland night
A Night at Birdland Volume 2 Art Blakey · Blue Note BLP 1522 · 1956
On Sunday, February 21, 1954, Rudy Van Gelder taped Art Blakey's quintet through five sets at Birdland: Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Silver, Curley Russell and Blakey, with Pee Wee Marquette announcing. About 20 performances were taped and ten were used, five on each 12-inch volume. This is the second, the half that gets less attention. It has J.J. Johnson's "Wee-Dot," two Charlie Parker themes, and a take of Silver's "Quicksilver" that had not been issued before. Scott Yanow, as Wikipedia quotes him, heard high points here next to stretches where the band sounded tired.
Start with
- Quicksilver (alternate take)
- Wee-Dot
- Confirmation
"Wee-Dot" is a 12-bar blues by J.J. Johnson, and Leonard Feather singles out Brown's solo on it. The "Quicksilver" here is a different take from the one on the first volume, so you can hear how Silver's tune changed from one set to the next. "Confirmation" closes the record.
In the band
Curley Russell · bass
Curley Russell, born in Trinidad in 1917, was one of the bassists who could keep up with bebop's fast tempos. He played on Charlie Parker's Savoy sessions, worked in Tadd Dameron's sextet, and was on Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco" in 1951. He had played on one of Silver's first trio dates in 1952 too. He left the music business in the late 1950s and died in 1986.
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One horn, one pianist
Miles Davis Volume 2 Miles Davis · Blue Note BLP 1502 · 1956
Thirteen days after Birdland, on March 6, 1954, Silver and Blakey were at Van Gelder's in Hackensack with Percy Heath, backing Miles Davis alone for Blue Note. The quartet's six tunes first came out on a 10-inch; this 12-inch from 1956 puts them beside two earlier Davis sextet dates without Silver. It was the first of several Davis dates Silver played that spring, and it has Davis originals, a Thelonious Monk tune and a Rodgers and Hart ballad. Hear it for Silver as an accompanist with no other horn to share the space: one trumpet, one pianist.
Start with
- Take-Off
- Well You Needn't
- It Never Entered My Mind
"Take-Off" opens the record, one of Davis's own. "Well You Needn't" is Monk's, and "It Never Entered My Mind," the Rodgers and Hart ballad, closes it. Leonard Feather's notes argue that what sets Davis apart is mood and thought, not notes. On the ballad, listen to Silver's comping with no other horn in the band.
In the band
Percy Heath · bass
Percy Heath, raised in Philadelphia, was the eldest of three musical brothers, with the saxophonist Jimmy and the drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. He was the bassist on many of Silver's early dates, from the November 1953 trio session on. From 1952 he was in the Modern Jazz Quartet, where he stayed until the group split in 1974, and later he toured with his brothers as the Heath Brothers.
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"Opus De Funk" with Milt Jackson
MJQ Modern Jazz Quartet, Milt Jackson Quintet · Prestige PRLP 7059 · 1956
On June 16, 1954, Silver was at Van Gelder's for a Milt Jackson quintet date for Prestige, with Henry Boozier on trumpet, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke. Two of the four tunes, "Opus De Funk" and "Buhaina," he had cut with his own trio the November before. Prestige first issued the date on a 10-inch, then paired it on this 12-inch with four Modern Jazz Quartet sides from 1952. So Silver sits here in John Lewis's chair beside three of that group's members, Jackson, Heath and Clarke. It shows his tunes beginning to travel into other people's bands.
Start with
- Opus De Funk
- Buhaina
- Soma
Start with "Opus De Funk," now with vibes and trumpet on the theme. "Buhaina" takes its name from Art Blakey's Muslim name, Abdullah Ibn Buhaina. Then play the MJQ side for contrast: the same vibes, bass and drums, with John Lewis at the piano, and a very different way of sitting behind Jackson.
In the band
Milt Jackson · vibes
Milt Jackson, from Detroit, played vibes with Dizzy Gillespie in the 1940s and was the star soloist of the Modern Jazz Quartet from its start in 1952. His nickname, Bags, gave the title to "Bags' Groove." He recorded with Silver several times in the 1950s, for Prestige, Blue Note and Atlantic, and kept playing in and out of the MJQ until his death in 1999.
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Clark Terry's first album
Clark Terry Clark Terry Septet · EmArcy MG-36007 · 1955
On January 3 and 4, 1955, at Fine Sound in New York, Clark Terry, then in Duke Ellington's trumpet section, made his first album as leader for EmArcy. Quincy Jones wrote the arrangements, and the band had Jimmy Cleveland on trombone, Cecil Payne on baritone, Silver, Wendell Marshall on bass, Oscar Pettiford on bass and cello, and Art Blakey. It fell between Silver's two quintet dates with Blakey for Blue Note, and it's a rare chance to hear him in a little big band with a writer's charts. AllMusic found no losers in this swinging meeting.
Start with
- Swahili
- Double Play
- Slow Boat
"Swahili" and "Double Play" are Jones's tunes, and "Slow Boat" is Terry's. Pettiford doubles on cello, still a rare sound in jazz then. Listen for Silver and Blakey together under trumpet, trombone and baritone, the same drummer and pianist who were making the first Messengers records that winter.
In the band
Clark Terry · trumpet
Clark Terry, born in St. Louis in 1920, played in Count Basie's band and joined Duke Ellington in 1951, staying until 1959. In St. Louis he encouraged a teenage Miles Davis, and in Seattle he had given lessons to the young Quincy Jones, who arranged this date. In the 1960s he joined the staff band at NBC and played on the Tonight Show. He kept playing and teaching until his death in 2015.
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Hank Mobley's first Blue Note
Hank Mobley Quartet Hank Mobley Quartet · Blue Note BLP 5066 · 1955
Silver's records were a launching pad for his sidemen. On March 27, 1955, at Van Gelder's in Hackensack, Hank Mobley made his first 10-inch LP for Blue Note with Silver, Doug Watkins and Art Blakey: the Messengers without the trumpet. Five of the six tunes are Mobley's; the other is Cole Porter's "Love For Sale." It came out in October 1955 and has had little reissue since, on CD only in Japan. Ron Wynn at AllMusic noted, with a straight face, that the drummer was someone named Art Blakey. At about 25 minutes, it's short enough to hear whole.
Start with
- Hank's Pranks
- Avila & Tequila
- Love For Sale
"Avila & Tequila" turned up again in the Messengers' sets at the Cafe Bohemia that November. "Hank's Pranks" and "Walkin' The Fence" are Mobley originals too. Listen for Silver and Blakey behind a single horn, as on the Miles Davis date the year before, and for Silver's solos between Mobley's.
In the band
Hank Mobley · tenor sax
Hank Mobley was 24, born in Eastman, Georgia, and raised in New Jersey. He had played with Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie before Silver brought him into the Minton's quartet that grew into the Messengers. Over the next 15 years he made more than 20 Blue Note albums as leader, Soul Station among them, and in 1961 he spent a stretch in Miles Davis's quintet.
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The Adderleys' first record
The Jazz Corner Of The Village Cafe Bohemia Featuring Kenny Clarke, Horace Silver, Paul Chambers, Nat Adderley, Julian "Cannon Ball" Adderley, Donald Byrd, Jerome Richardson Kenny Clarke Septet · Savoy MG 12017 · 1955
In the summer of 1955 a Florida band teacher named Cannonball Adderley sat in at the Cafe Bohemia in Greenwich Village and set New York talking. On June 28, Savoy had him and his brother Nat, on cornet, at Van Gelder's in Hackensack, in a band under Kenny Clarke's name with Donald Byrd, Jerome Richardson, Silver and Paul Chambers. It is the earliest recording of either Adderley. Oscar Pettiford's title tune is named for the club. Silver is on all but one track; Hank Jones plays on "We'll Be Together Again," from a second date in July.
Start with
- Bohemia After Dark
- Willow Weep For Me
- Chasm
"Willow Weep For Me" is Cannonball's feature. "Chasm" is one of the brothers' own tunes, and the title track is Pettiford's. Scott Yanow at AllMusic says the young Adderleys' playing makes this a historic session. Listen for Silver setting up the soloists on the fast numbers.
In the band
Cannonball Adderley · alto sax
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, born in Tampa in 1928, had been a high school band director in Fort Lauderdale before he came to New York in 1955. He joined Miles Davis's band in 1957 and played on Kind of Blue, then led his own quintet with Nat, which had a pop hit in 1966 with Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." He died in 1975, at 46.
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Backing a Dutch singer
The Cool Voice Of Rita Reys Rita Reys · Columbia CL 903 · 1956
On May 3, 1956, the day before their own last Columbia session, the Jazz Messengers, Byrd, Mobley, Silver, Watkins and Blakey, backed the Dutch singer Rita Reys in New York. Four of those tracks went on her debut album, produced by George Avakian and issued by Columbia in the US and Philips in Europe; the rest has her with her husband Wessel Ilcken's group and other bands. It's the only record on this path where Silver backs a singer, and it catches the first Messengers at the very end of their run together.
Start with
- I Cried For You
- You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
- That Old Black Magic
These three, with "Taking A Chance On Love," are the four tracks with the Messengers. AllMusic calls it probably her most famous album. Compare this band with its hard-blowing self on its own records: the same five men, now framing a voice, with the horns kept to short spots.
In the band
Rita Reys · vocal
Rita Reys was born in Rotterdam in 1924 and was promoted as Europe's First Lady of Jazz. She was married to the drummer Wessel Ilcken, who leads the other sessions on this record. Ilcken died in 1957, and she went on to a long career at home in the Netherlands. She kept singing into her 80s and died in 2013, aged 88.
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Lee Morgan at 18
Lee Morgan Indeed! Lee Morgan · Blue Note BLP 1538 · 1956
On Sunday, November 4, 1956, a week before Silver's own new quintet made its first record, he was at Van Gelder's for the debut of an 18-year-old trumpeter from Philadelphia, Lee Morgan. Morgan brought a friend from home, Clarence Sharpe, on alto, and Silver, Wilbur Ware and Philly Joe Jones made up the rhythm section; all three had backed J.R. Monterose in the same room two weeks before. It opens with a Silver tune from the first session on this path. Leonard Feather is careful to say in the notes that Morgan was no mere prodigy. Nat Hentoff called it an encouraging debut.
Start with
- Roccus
- Little T
- Gaza Strip
Silver's "Roccus," which he first cut with Lou Donaldson in 1952, opens the record, and it begins with Morgan's first solo. Donald Byrd's "Little T" runs over eight minutes, with long turns for trumpet, alto and piano. Owen Marshall's "Gaza Strip" opens with eight bars from Jones.
In the band
Lee Morgan · trumpet
Lee Morgan was 18 and already the featured soloist in Dizzy Gillespie's big band. This was his first date as leader, and within weeks he was leading another. He joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1958, made The Sidewinder in 1963, a hit that helped keep Blue Note afloat, and was shot and killed at a New York club in 1972, at 33.
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Two tenors from Chicago
Blowing in from Chicago Cliff Jordan & John Gilmore · Blue Note BLP 1549 · 1957
Silver didn't only play on young players' records; sometimes he found them. While the Messengers were in Chicago he had jammed with two tenor players, Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore, and he helped bring them to Blue Note. On Sunday, March 3, 1957, at Van Gelder's, he played on their first record, with Curley Russell on bass and Art Blakey on drums. Joe Segal, in the original notes, credits the rhythm section with settling first-date nerves. Seven tunes were taped and six used; Silver wrote one. It ends this path with Silver as talent scout as well as pianist.
Start with
- Blue Lights
- Status Quo
- Everywhere
Segal's tip for telling the tenors apart: Jordan plays the lead in the ensembles and has the mellower tone, Gilmore's sound is harder and punchier. On Gigi Gryce's "Blue Lights," Silver and Blakey slip into double time under the piano solo before settling back. "Everywhere," Silver's only tune of the day, ends the record.
In the band
John Gilmore · tenor sax
John Gilmore, from Chicago's South Side, had played clarinet in an Army Air Force band and toured with an Earl Hines group before joining Sun Ra, with whom he stayed, on and off, for about 40 years. AllMusic's Scott Yanow notes this is one of the few times he recorded away from Ra. John Coltrane was among the players who admired him, and Gilmore spent a short spell in Art Blakey's Messengers in the mid-1960s.
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Sources