Album Reviews

If you choose to linger on the external contours and often predictable constructive conventions of these tunes, instead of on how the musicians fill the spaces, this Horace Silver set can sound conventional, overly familiar and even mundane to 21st century ears.

All but the final tune “Mo’ Joe,” written by the 29 year old tenor saxist Joe Henderson, are Silver originals but none weigh in as strongly as the title tune of his previous album “Song For My Father,” the intro of which Steely Dan filched for the opening of “Ricki Don’t Lose That Number.”

Yet there is plenty of melody here, including within the sun-splashed, rollicking, title tune opener and on “Pretty Eyes,” the waltz number that comprises all of side two. Joe Henderson fills in the spaces with long, undulating glides, eventually handing it over to trumpeter Woody Shaw. Silver drops in for a long solo built around a McCoy Tyner-esque two chord vamp (except for the "bugle calls").

Notable as Henderson’s turns are here, the fire comes from the interplay between Shaw’s trumpet and the trombone of guest artist J.J. Johnson. Also putting in a strong performance is drummer Roger Humphries, particularly on the romp “Bonita.”

Henderson’s “Mo’ Joe” (not a play on “mojo” according to Silver in the liner notes), sounding an awful lot like “Comin’ Home,” closes out the album. Speaking of “Comin’ Home,” why the hell has no one reissued Herbie Mann Live at the Village Gate?

This is yet another great Music Matters Blue Note reissue with packaging that sets the standard for twofer 45rpm sets. The rich, high contrast black and white shots of the musicians on the inside are alone almost worth the price of admission.

Once again, the sound on this Music Matters twofer surpasses that of the original. Rudy gets decent sound from Silver’s piano, placing him appropriately center stage but relatively weak in the mix compared to the horns and brass. Rudy nails Shaw’s trumpet and gets good results from Humphries, though the kit is tightly restricted to the right channel, probably to avoid interference with Silver.