Horace Silver • Live New York, Revisited

 

This fabulous album, recorded during three New York club engagements in 1964, 1965 and 1966, ranks among the finest in the pianist/composer's illustrious catalogue. There are several things going for it: the quality and shared intentionality of the two, slightly different, lineups; the choice of material and its careful sequencing; the vibrancy of the performances, which is enough to practically raise the dead; and the quality of the CD mastering by the ezz-thetics label's sonic jedi Michael Brändli, whose work in effect amounts to full-on audio restoration.

Three of the five tunes (the seven-track album contains two versions apiece of "Que Pasa" and "African Queen") are from Silver's exalted Song For My Father (Blue Note, 1964) and are performed by the band which played them on that album: Silver, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, trumpeter Carmell Jones, bassist Teddy Smith and drummer Roger Humphries. "Song For My Father," "The Natives Are Restless Tonight" and "Que Pasa" never sounded finer.

The same can be said for "Señor Blues" from 6 Pieces Of Silver (Blue Note, 1957), the title track from Tokyo Blues (Blue Note, 1962), and "African Queen" from The Cape Verdean Blues (Blue Note, 1965). The two versions of "African Queen," datewise the last tracks to have been recorded (at the Half Note on separate nights in February 1966), have Woody Shaw in place of Jones and Larry Ridley in place of Smith. The rest of the personnel is unchanged.

Reviewers are not usually given to quoting the words of other writers, much less giving attribution to them when they do, but on occasion someone else makes an observation which is worth repeating verbatim. Brian Morton's sleeve note for Live New York Revisited is spot-on in its analysis of Silver's importance within the development of jazz. Here is Morton's general thesis: "Long before his death in 2014, Silver's reputation had become occluded, or tarnished with the notion that he was a relatively slight figure, more of an entertainer than an innovator." He goes on to discuss the various ways in which Silver was an innovatory figure, including this: "His habit of quoting other songs in his solos, often dismissed as a shallow, crowd-pleasing trick, is a forerunner of sampling culture and hip-hop. It's also an acknowledgement of [how] profoundly knowledgeable Silver was about the canon and its evolution. Here's a line of mine, he might say, and here's where it came from, but also here and here. His only mistake in this regard was to smile while he was playing.... a challenge to the really rather recent notion that jazz should be deadly serious and played with a pained rictus."

Joyous faces rather than pained rictuses should be the universal response to this album.
By Chris May
August 15, 2022
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-new-york-revisited-horace-silver-quintet-ezz-thetics

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Este fabuloso álbum, grabado durante tres compromisos en clubes de Nueva York en 1964, 1965 y 1966, se encuentra entre los mejores del ilustre catálogo del pianista y compositor. Hay varias cosas a su favor: la calidad y la intencionalidad compartida de las dos formaciones, ligeramente diferentes; la elección del material y su cuidadosa secuenciación; la vitalidad de las interpretaciones, que es suficiente para prácticamente resucitar a los muertos; y la calidad de la masterización del CD por el jedi sónico del sello ezz-thetics, Michael Brändli, cuyo trabajo equivale en efecto a una restauración de audio completa.

Tres de los cinco temas (el álbum de siete pistas contiene dos versiones cada una de "Que Pasa" y "African Queen") proceden del excelso Song For My Father (Blue Note, 1964) de Silver y son interpretados por la banda que los tocó en ese álbum: Silver, el saxofonista tenor Joe Henderson, el trompetista Carmell Jones, el bajista Teddy Smith y el batería Roger Humphries. "Song For My Father", "The Natives Are Restless Tonight" y "Que Pasa" nunca sonaron mejor.

Lo mismo puede decirse de "Señor Blues" de 6 Pieces Of Silver (Blue Note, 1957), el tema que da título a Tokyo Blues (Blue Note, 1962) y "African Queen" de The Cape Verdean Blues (Blue Note, 1965). Las dos versiones de "African Queen", los últimos temas grabados (en el Half Note en noches distintas de febrero de 1966), incluyen a Woody Shaw en lugar de Jones y a Larry Ridley en lugar de Smith. El resto del personal no ha cambiado.

Los críticos no suelen citar las palabras de otros escritores, y mucho menos atribuírselas cuando lo hacen, pero en ocasiones alguien hace una observación que vale la pena repetir textualmente. La nota de Brian Morton para Live New York Revisited es acertada en su análisis de la importancia de Silver en el desarrollo del jazz. Esta es la tesis general de Morton: "Mucho antes de su muerte en 2014, la reputación de Silver se había ocluido, o empañado con la noción de que era una figura relativamente ligera, más un artista que un innovador". Continúa hablando de las diversas formas en las que Silver era una figura innovadora, entre ellas esta: "Su costumbre de citar otras canciones en sus solos, a menudo tachada de truco superficial para agradar al público, es precursora de la cultura del sampling y el hip-hop. También es un reconocimiento de [lo] profundamente conocedor que era Silver del canon y su evolución". Aquí hay una frase mía, decía, y de aquí viene, pero también aquí y aquí". Su único error en este sentido fue sonreír mientras tocaba.... un desafío a la noción bastante reciente de que el jazz debe ser mortalmente serio y tocado con un rictus dolorido".

La respuesta universal a este álbum deberían ser las caras alegres y no los rictus doloridos.
Por Chris May
15 de agosto de 2022
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-new-york-revisited-horace-silver-quintet-ezz-thetics

Tracks:
1 Song for My Father 10:34
2 African Queen 9:00
3 The Natives Are Restless Tonight 11:25
4 Que Pasa 14:55
5 African Queen 10:12
6 The Tokyo Blues 14:59
7 Senor Blues 6:36


Credits:
Horace Silver: piano;
Carmell Jones: trumpet;
Woody Shaw: trumpet;
Joe Henderson: saxophone;
Teddy Smith: bass;
Larry Ridley: bass;
Roger Humphries: drums.

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