HORACE SILVER
Jazz...has...a Sense of Humor (Verve)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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From his first dates with Stan Getz in 1950, through his founding role with the legendary Jazz Messengers, and on through the intervening decades, Horace Silver has been a central figure in the creation of some of the most memorable jazz of the last half of the 20th century.

That role is further enhanced by this new album from the latest version of the Horace Silver Quintet. Silver has always had an ear for sharp new players, having helped introduce the likes of Blue Mitchell, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, the Brecker brothers and others. This time out, he is joined by Ryan Kisor (trumpet), Jimmy Greene (saxophones), John Webber (bass) and Willie Jones III (drums), and given their contributions here, each is a player who will be reckoned with for a long time to come.

The album features nine new Horace Silver compositions with a rhythmic range from jaunty to funky. Silver dedicated the sessions to Fats Waller, and set out to produce "some good toe-tapping music." He accomplished that admirably, and infused the whole thing with the kind of good humor that Waller made an indispensable element in the jazz vocabulary. Horace Silver may be past seventy now, but he promises to have a real impact on the next half century of jazz as well.

Track List:

Satisfaction Guaranteed * The Mama Suite - Part I: Not Enough Mama; Part II: Too Much Mama; Part III: Just Right Mama * Philley Milley * Ah-Ma-Tell * I Love Annie's Fanny * Gloria * Where Do I Go From Here?

© 2000 - Shaun Dale