Horace Silver - The Hardbop Grandpop

Selections:
I Want you
The hippest cat in Hollywood
Gratitude
Hawkin'
I got the blues in Santa Cruz
We've got Silver at six
The Hardbop Grandpop
The lady from Johannesburg
Serenade to a teakettle
Diggin' on Dexter
Musicians
Michael Brecker, Claudio Roditi, Ronnie Cuber, Ron Carter, Lewis Nash, Steve Turre and Horace Silver
 
Review
Horace Silver is a unique individual in jazz. On this CD we are back to the basics of Silver. These were the types of lines that made us all click our fingers to the funk godfather back in the Fifties and Sixties. For a while in between Horace's music became more lyrical and social in content, which is not to say that the message was lost, but that familiar Silver identification was missing. In Hard bop Grand pop we are once again treated to Silver a la carte.
I had the good fortune to catch up with Horace Silver at the Montreal Jazz Festival this year. Although his set consisted of most the material that has gone into this package, the group was a lot different. This recording is loaded with All-Stars. The front line has Michael Brecker on tenor, Claudio Roditi on fluegelhorn and trumpet, Steve Turre on trombone and Ronnie Cuber on baritone. The rest of the group has, none other than, Ron Carter on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. The group that toured the jazz festivals, although good, were made up of a lot of young Californians who have not yet established a name in the jazz community. An interesting side note on seeing the group perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival was after the set the audience was looking for an encore. After doing one encore the audience wanted more. Horace had to come out on stage to apologize because the group was not ready or prepared to do any more charts for the night. A first, for me!
This music on this CD is tight ensemble playing at its best. The compositions are humorous, springy, viable and from the street to the store front church in origin. Aside from the late Dexter Gordon, I know of no other jazz musician that is so completely adapt to quoting as Horace Silver. It's a natural flow that comes in his playing and you'll never know what quote will come out of his improvised lines: Anything from "Sweet Georgia Brown" to " Down by the Riverside" is possible. The title track is a line based on the chord changes for the old Evergreen, "Back Home in Indiana."
The solo work on this set is spread out proportionately to all the players. Ronny Cuber is a strong baritone player whose solos are biting, pungent and aware of Mr.Silver and his written intentions. Ronny Cuber and Gary Smulyn are, for me, two of the better bari players on the scene today. Claudio Roditi's solos are lyrical and fluid. Mr. Roditi never steps on any of the toes of the notes that he plays. He is indeed the most expressive of all the trumpet players today and still carries the Clifford Brown banner with dignity. Michael Brecker is a steady saxophonist who has done his share of electronic experimenting and here he comes off playing stunningly in the Silver tradition. Steve Turre has some tasty solos; a lot of us are forgetting that he is a trombonist that doubles on shells and not the other way around. Ron Carter and Lewis Nash do a master's job in understating the rhythm behind Horace's driving comping and solo work.
For all the old diehard Silver fans and the young jazz fans beginning to discover this music, this is a splendid sampling of hard bop as it sounds in the Nineties. I rate this CD Four Stars.

Bill Holman Band Live

Personnel: Bill Holman, composer, arranger, conductor; Carl Saunders, Pete DiSiena, Ron Stout, Bob Summers, trumpet; Lanny Morgan, Bruce Babad, Doug Webb, Ray Herrmann, Bob Efford, reeds; Jack Redmond, Bob Enevoldsen, Andy Martin, trombone; Craig Gosnell, bass trombone; Christian Jacob, piano; Joel Hamilton, bass; Kevin Kanner, drums.

Track Listing: Introduction; Woodrow; A Day in the Life; Bary Me Not; Band Introductions; Donna Lee; Blue Daniel; Press One; The Bebop Love Song; Zoot ‘n Al (61:19).

CD Review

I remember the very first time I ever heard Bill Holman's work. It was way back with Stan Kenton's band. My first reaction was to sit up straight, enjoy and pay strict attention. Well, I've been doing that ever since whenever Bill comes up with something new. When either Holman or the late Marty Paich creates music, there's a personal identification stamp that lets you know it's their music.

Holman's arrangements are always fresh, original, light and they swing like hell. The Bill Holman Band Live is his latest work and was recently recorded in September 2004 in Los Angeles California. The band, as usual, is chock full of the West Coast's very best players and the recording and playing is absolutely superb.

The set starts out with a dedication to Woody Herman, Holman's ex-boss, with a tune called Woodrow. This line is based on and expands from Herman's theme song, Blue Flame.

This is followed by a kind of tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Beatles with Holman's playful and sometimes abstract version of A Day In The Life. Ray Herrmann contributes a straight ahead swinging solo on tenor sax.

Bary Me Not introduces us to Bob Efford on baritone sax as he effortlessly injects some wonderful lines in between the Swing Era into the twenty first century kind of arrangement.

You have got to hear this band romp on Charlie Parker's Donna Lee. Great trombonist, Bob Enevoldsen, takes a solo before the band does some exploratory work. Doug Webb jumps back into it with a boppish solo to finish up.

Frank Rosolino's swinging waltz, Blue Daniel, is reincarnated next with the usual exploratory Holman touch. Ron Stout, contributes a very articulate solo to enhance this jazz evergreen.

Press One is a whimsical title having to do with the trials of modern day telephone communication.

There is an almost haunting Monk-like feeling in the slower tempoed The Bebop Love Song. On this one, Bob Enevoldsen shows us why he's one of the best jazz trombonists in the business today.

I feel very fortunate that in my lifetime I was able to see Al Cohn and Zoot Sims countless times at clubs in New York City like, The Half Note, The Village Vanguard and others. They were indeed the dynamic duo of their times and it still holds true until today. Bill pays them homage with his original line, Zoot 'n' Al. The reed ensemble plays the theme so reminiscent of Zoot and Al. The Sax solos do much to capture the spirit and good feelings of the two illustrious tenor men of jazz.

Listening to Bill Holman's music, for me, is like indulging in dessert. I don't have it too often, but when I do, I savor each and every forkful until it's all finished.