CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Song for My Father

by: Horace Silver

Release Date April 20, 1999
I originally purchased this album in 1964. It was one of my favorites then and it still is. Silver's hard charging jazz is a benchmark piece for this period. Excellent solo work by Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook are excellent.
I feel that this is a "must have" album for fans of jazz in the 50's and 60's.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2

by: Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, Horace Silver

Release Date August 07, 2001
The band: Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, Curly Russell, Art Blakey. (Should recognize at least Brown, Silver and Blakey - big names in jazz.)

The venue: Birdland - "Jazz Corner of the World"

The production: Rudy Van Gelder remaster of a live recording. (Hot, but clean.)

The verdict: This is a worthwhile CD and should be in every serious jazz music collector's collection in one form or another (see below). It really swings and is seriously hot live jazz by some of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play music.

The caveat: You can buy Clifford Brown's The Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings, which contains this CD, A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1, The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1

by: Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, Horace Silver

Release Date August 07, 2001
First of all, enough other reviewers have covered the history and make-up of this CD, so I won't do that. All I want to say is, this is a delightful and historic piece of live jazz music that simply cannot be surpassed. The players assembled make this recording one for the ages. And if you think you might enjoy this (jazz fans definitely will, I reckon), my suggestion would be to go ahead and get Clifford Brown's The Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings, because that includes both this CD and the volume 2 companion, plus two more CD's of Brown's work. Wonderful, wonderful jazz you'll want to share with everyone you know.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Blowin' the Blues Away

by: Horace Silver

Release Date March 09, 1999
What makes this CD so compelling to own, and so satisfying once you own it, is that you get to experience one of the great jazz musicians of all time exercising his considerable talent, skill, and judgment, in a variety of different musical capacities, all in one place. As a pianist, Silver was at the forefront for many years, as evidenced by his playing with so many other jazz talents, such as Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham and Miles Davis. All but one of the songs on this CD were written by Silver, so this CD displays the depth and musicality of Silver as a composer, a skill that is not always found in other jazz musicians. Indeed, if this collection contained Horace's signature piece, Song for My Father, this would be one of the most ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers

by: Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers

Release Date March 01, 2005
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.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4; Horace Silver: Creepin' In

from: Angel Records

Release Date April 01, 2008
We listened on public radio to this performance to the very end, holding up our travel plans until completion, guessed that the violinist had to have Eastern European influence, figured it had to be Oistrakh or Menuhin or a student of the above, and then rushed to buy it. The glory of listening closely without prejudice is that the discovery of an exceedingly musical performance: appropriate liberties with tempo, dynamics, and complete technical mastery. I was reminded of a saying of a US cello teacher who had students in every major orchestra: start with a beautiful sound and then make sure that what you are playing, fast or slow, is music. I could not disagree with reviewer #1 more. This is one of the most beautiful realizations of this concerto that I have heard.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Live at Newport '58

by: Horace Silver

Release Date February 05, 2008
Horace Silver's Live at Newport is an excellent recording from a top artist. Considering it's age and that it was recorded live, this is a very good quality recording. The band is excellent and the music never better. Very enjoyable for Horace Silver fans and jazz fans alike. Enjoy!

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

The Jody Grind

by: Horace Silver

Release Date August 13, 1991

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.: ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Doin' the Thing (At the Village Gate)

by: Horace Silver

Release Date September 12, 2006
Silver and his group are never less than swinging, and this CD, recorded live at the Village Gate, opens with the great "Filthy McNasty" and never lets up. Small group Blue Note hard bop at its best.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

The Cape Verdean Blues

by: Horace Silver Quintet with J.J. Johnson

Release Date March 23, 2004
Horace Silver gathered some great players to make a great record. There's Joe Henderson on tenor, a young Woody Shaw on trumpet, and J. J. Johnson plays trombone on the second half of the CD. J. J. Johnson was unfortunately underutilized by the jazz leaders of his day, and it's always a treat to hear him. The songs are catchy, especially the title track, and the playing is excellent. The song structures are all very standard theme-solo-theme arrangements, but that's something Horace did throughout the 60's. I recommend this CD to all jazz fans. This one isn't as good as "Song Of My Father", but it's better than the rest of the Horace Silver CD's that I've heard.