Sold Date:
June 14, 2015
Start Date:
June 7, 2015
Final Price:
$16.50
(USD)
Bid Count:
2
Seller Feedback:
1294
Buyer Feedback:
52
Record, Sleeve and Album Cover in VERY GOOD CONDITION. From 1956 onwards, Silver recorded exclusively for Blue Note, eventually becoming close to label boss Alfred Lion, who allowed him greater input on aspects of album production than was usual at the time. During his years with Blue Note, Silver helped to create the rhythmically forceful branch of jazz known as "hard bop", which combined elements of rhythm-and-blues and gospel music with jazz. Gospel elements are particularly prominent on one of his biggest hits, "The Preacher", which Lion thought corny, but which Silver persuaded him to record.[12] While Silver's compositions at this time featured surprising tempo shifts and a range of melodic ideas, they caught the attention of a wide audience. His own piano playing easily shifted from aggressively percussive to lushly romantic within just a few bars. At the same time, his sharp use of repetition was funky even before that word could be used in polite company. Along with Silver's own work, his bands often featured such rising jazz stars as saxophonists Junior Cook and Hank Mobley, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and drummer Louis Hayes. Silver's key albums from this period include Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1955), 6 Pieces of Silver (1956) and Blowin' the Blues Away (1959), which includes his famous "Sister Sadie". He combined jazz with a sassy take on pop through the hit "Filthy McNasty" (1961).[12] In 1963 Silver created a new group featuring Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and Carmell Jones on trumpet; this quintet recorded most of Silver's best-known album Song for My Father. When Jones left to settle in Europe, the trumpet chair was filled by a young Woody Shaw and Tyrone Washington replaced Henderson. Song for My Father (Cantiga Para Meu Pai) reached No. 95 on the Billboard 200 in 1965 and a year later The Cape Verdean Blues reached No. 130.[7] As social and cultural upheavals shook the nation during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Silver responded to these changes through music. He commented directly on the new scene through a trio of records much later collected together under the title The United States of Mind (1970–72) that featured the spirited vocals of Andy Bey. The composer got deeper into cosmic philosophy as his group, Silver 'N Strings, recorded Silver 'N Strings Play The Music of the Spheres (1979).[13] Between 1955 and 1980, Silver made more than twenty records for Blue Note, including The Jody Grind in 1966. Silver's bands often featured the trumpeter Blue Mitchell and tenor saxophonist Junior Cook. Four of his Blue Note albums were included on the label's "100 essential jazz albums" list issued in 2014 as part of its 75th anniversary celebration.[7] Silver introduced many jazz musicians who would go on to become leading figures, including trumpeters Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw and Randy Brecker, saxophonists Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker and Benny Golson and the singer Andy Bey.[7]