Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Studio album by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Released	October 1956
Recorded	November 13, 1954 (#1-3, 8) February 6, 1955 (#4-7) Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack
Genre	Jazz, Hard bop
Length	43:50
Label	Blue Note BLP 1518
Producer	Alfred Lion
Horace Silver chronology
Horace Silver Trio and Art Blakey-Sabu (1955) Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1955) Silver's Blue (1956)
Jazz Messengers chronology
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1956) At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 (1955)

Horace Silver Quintet
Studio album by Horace Silver
Released	1954
Recorded	November 13, 1954 Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack
Label	Blue Note BLP 5058

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 2
Studio album by Horace Silver
Released	1955
Recorded	February 6, 1955 Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack
Label	Blue Note BLP 5058

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[2]

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is a 1956 album by jazz pianist Horace Silver with drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. It was an important album in the establishment of the hard bop style, and was the first studio album released under the band name The Jazz Messengers, which Blakey would use for the rest of his career. Scott Yanow on Allmusic describes it as "a true classic".^[3] Originally released as an LP, the album has subsequently been reissued on CD several times.

Background

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers was the first 12" Blue Note album released under Silver’s name. The album is a reissue of two previous 10" LPs -- Horace Silver Quintet (BLP 5058) and Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 2 (BLP 5062) -- and the first sessions in which he used the quintet format which he would largely use for the rest of his career. The music on the album mixes bebop influences with blues and gospel feels.

One of the most successful tunes from the album, "The Preacher", was almost rejected for recording by producer Alfred Lion, who thought it was "too old-timey", but reinstated at the insistence of Blakey and Silver, who threatened to cancel the session until he had written another tune to record in its place if it wasn’t included.^[4] According to Silver, the track showed that the band could "reach way back and get that old time, gutbucket barroom feeling with just a taste of the back-beat".^[5]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Horace Silver except where noted.. 

Side 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Room 608" (*)	5:22
2.	"Creepin' In" (*)	7:26
3.	"Stop Time" (*)	4:07
4.	"To Whom It May Concern" (**)	5:11

Side 2
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Hippy" (**)		5:23
6.	"The Preacher" (**)		4:18
7.	"Hankerin'" (**)	Hank Mobley	5:18
8.	"Doodlin'" (*)		6:45

(*) Originally released on 10" LP Horace Silver Quintet (BLP 5058)
(**) Originally released on 10" LP Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 2 (BLP 5062)

Personnel

Performance

• Horace Silver - piano
• Kenny Dorham - trumpet
• Hank Mobley - tenor saxophone
• Doug Watkins - bass
• Art Blakey - drums

Production

• Alfred Lion - production
• Reid Miles - design
• Rudy Van Gelder - engineering
• Francis Wolff - photography

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 181. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
3. Allmusic: Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers – Review
4. Silver, H. (2007): Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver, University of California Press, p. 79-80
5. Rosenthal, D. H. (1992): Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955-1965, OUP, p. 38