Song for My Father | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | End of January 1965 [1] | |||
Recorded | October 31, 1963; January 28 and October 26, 1964 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs | |||
Genre | Hard bop | |||
Length | 42:12 original LP 59:59 CD | |||
Label | Blue Note BST 84185 | |||
Producer | Alfred Lion | |||
The Horace Silver Quintet chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [3] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [4] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
Song for My Father is a 1965 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, released on the Blue Note label in 1965. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver's father, John Tavares Silver, to whom the title composition was dedicated. "My mother was of Irish and Negro descent, my father of Portuguese origin," Silver recalls in the liner notes: "He was born on the island of Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands." [6]
The composition "Song for My Father" is probably Silver's best known. [7] As described in the liner notes, this album features the leader's quintet in transition as it features a mix of tracks featuring his old group and his new line-up after Blue Mitchell had left.
AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey praised the album:
One of Blue Note's greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver's signature LP and the peak of a discography already studded with classics...it hangs together remarkably well, and Silver's writing is at his tightest and catchiest. [8]
The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his AllMusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop recordings. [9]
All compositions by Horace Silver, except where noted.
Bonus tracks on CD reissue:
Recorded on October 31, 1963 (#3, 6, 7, 8); January 28, 1964 (#9-10); October 26, 1964 (#1, 2, 4, 5).
Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5
Tracks 3, 7, 9, 10
Tracks 6, 8
Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing.
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including tenor saxophone, guitar, and organ. Its origins were in the 1950s and early 1960s, with its heyday with popular audiences preceding the rise of jazz fusion in the late 1960s and 1970s. Prominent names in fusion ranged from bop pianists including Bobby Timmons and Junior Mance to a wide range of organists, saxophonists, and guitarists including Jack McDuff, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Grant Green.
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note, Milestone, and Verve.
Idle Moments is an album by American jazz guitarist Grant Green recorded in 1963 and released on the Blue Note label in 1965. It features performances by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Duke Pearson, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Al Harewood.
The Sidewinder is a 1964 album by the jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan, recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S. It was released on the Blue Note label as BLP 4157 (mono) and BST 84157 (stereo).
A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 is a 1954 release by jazz artist Art Blakey, and a quintet which featured Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver and Curly Russell. One of the earliest hard bop recordings, it was first released by Blue Note Records as a 10" LP and then as a 12" LP containing material from the second 10" album. It was reissued for the first time on CD in 1987 with two additional tracks, previously released on a 2 LP Compilation in 1975 called Live Messengers (BN-LA473-J2). The CD was reissued again in 2001 as an "RVG Edition" remastered by Rudy Van Gelder with the tracks in a different order. The 1987 CD used the second 12" LP cover, the 2001 CD revived the original 10" LP cover.
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is a 1956 repackage of 1955 10” LPs by jazz pianist Horace Silver with drummer Art Blakey and featuring Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, and Doug Watkins on bass. By the time this repackage was released, this quintet had named themselves the Jazz Messengers, and the band name on the label reflected that. These recordings helped establish the hard bop style. Scott Yanow on Allmusic describes it as "a true classic". Originally released as an LP, the album has subsequently been reissued on CD several times.
Lee Morgan Sextet is an album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released on the Blue Note label in 1957. It was recorded on December 2, 1956 and features performances by Morgan, Hank Mobley, Kenny Rodgers, Horace Silver, Paul Chambers and Charlie Persip. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow calls the album "An above-average hard bop set".
The Stylings of Silver is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1957 featuring performances by Silver with Art Farmer, Hank Mobley, Teddy Kotick, and Louis Hayes.
Finger Poppin' with the Horace Silver Quintet is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1959, featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Louis Hayes.
Doin' the Thing is a live album by jazz pianist Horace Silver, released on the Blue Note label in 1961. It was the only live album released featuring the "classic" Horace Silver Quintet.
Serenade to a Soul Sister is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1968, featuring performances by Silver with Charles Tolliver, Stanley Turrentine, Bennie Maupin, Bob Cranshaw, John Williams, Mickey Roker and Billy Cobham.
Silver 'n Brass is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1975, featuring performances by Silver with Tom Harrell, Bob Berg, Ron Carter, Al Foster, Bob Cranshaw, and Bernard Purdie with an overdubbed brass section arranged by Wade Marcus featuring Oscar Brashear, Bobby Bryant, Vincent DeRosa, Frank Rosolino, Maurice Spears, Jerome Richardson, and Buddy Collette.
Silver 'n Wood is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1975 featuring performances by Silver with Tom Harrell, Bob Berg, Ron Carter and Al Foster, with an overdubbed horn section conducted by Wade Marcus featuring Buddy Collette, Fred Jackson, Jr., Jerome Richardson, Lanny Morgan, Jack Nimitz, Bill Green, Garnett Brown, and Frank Rosolino.
Spirit Sensitive is a hard-bop jazz album by Chico Freeman on India Navigation Records IN 1045.
True Blue is a jazz album by tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks recorded on June 25, 1960, and released on the Blue Note label. In the hard-bop idiom, it was Brooks' only performance as leader to be released during his lifetime, and features performances by Brooks, Freddie Hubbard, Duke Jordan, Sam Jones and Art Taylor.
When Farmer Met Gryce is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer and saxophonist Gigi Gryce, featuring performances recorded in 1954 and 1955 and released on the Prestige label.
David Schnitter
"Doodlin'" is a composition by Horace Silver. The original version, by Silver's quintet, was recorded on November 13, 1954. It was soon covered by other musicians, including with lyrics added by Jon Hendricks. It has become a jazz standard.