Song for My Father (1999 CD reissue - RVG Edition)

by

The Horace Silver Quintet

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Long-time jazz pianist Horace Silver released this gem in 1964 on Blue Note. It is an unusual session as it is a split one. Part of the album contains Silver's classic quintet of Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor sax, Gene Taylor on bass, Roy Brooks on drums, and of course, Silver on piano. The other part has Silver on piano, Carmell Jones on trumpet, Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Teddy Smith on bass, and Roger Humphries on drums. It is a "cut and paste" effort, but once you listen to the music, you can't tell a difference in their personnel. That is how flawless this album is. The remastered version by Rudy Van Gelder is awesome in its sound quality.

The title track is obviously one of jazz's all-time great pieces, but "Calcutta Cutie", "Que Pasa?", "The Kicker", and "Lonely Woman" are all outstanding, heck the whole album is great. Henderson, in particular, is at the top of his game and he absolutely gives the best tenor sax solo of all-time in the title track.

This is a perfect album to get into jazz and should be one of your first buys after "Kind of Blue" and "Blue Train". It is also a good introduction to Horace Silver, one of the great underrated artists in jazz history.

If you like this Silver album, check out "Blowin' the Blues Away" and "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers".