Silver, Horace - Song for My Father
The fantastic opening title track features the full-bodied raspings of Joe Henderson on tenor sax, which is what led me to relisten to this classic 1965 album recently. A simple minor latin feel with a satisfying break to orientate each chorus became a favourite with many musicians. Silver takes the first solo, backed up satisfying rimshots from Roger Humphries. The direction the melody takes is more focused on feel, nuance and well placed left hand accompaniment rather than pianistic fireworks. Henderson had a fantastic sound and influenced many of the later tenor giants such as Brecker and Chris Potter. Henderson is flamboyant, with a no-nonsense sound and harmonic approach, making him easier to some of Coltrane's material of the same year (Ascension, Meditations, Expression). Silver pushes quite hard on some repeated patterns, and the bass keeps things solid until the robust end. The Natives Are Restless Tonight has a driving sense of grooving peril. Trumpet player Carmell Jones takes an exciting and crystal clear solo, with the whole band supporting with daring enthusiasm the whole way. Henderson again steps up the podium, this time with a more exploratory approach, working ideas through until they go supernova with intense growls and register climbs pushing the band furiously on. Where on earth Silver could go following that is a question we're all wondering, but the rhythm section keep firing on all cylinders as he fist pumps the left hand and provides a quality commentary with the right. The tone of the piano in many older recordings is so refreshingly different from the manacured perfection of modern Steinways and Yamahas that are so ubiqutous today. There is hints of level peaking on ocassion but it never detracts from the overall impression made by the music. Calcutta Cutie echoes the opening track with bass playing a figure in 5ths. An interesting melody has shades of the 'exotic' in a way that made me think of Ravel and Debussy and other classical composers who dabbled with the sonorities of other cultures to their own, but always within their own context. Men's fascination with other cultures often has a woman as the catalyst (cf Caribbean Cutie, Indian Lady, ). The shift to straight bop language is a little strange, but the piece is enjoyable. The soft beaters on the drums are a little odd but immaculately timed. Que Pasa is the next tune on the menu, a laid back number with a solid head. Silver pushes his harmonic language quite far at times here, with sophisticated side-steps in a similar vein to McCoy Tyner. Henderson burbles forth into another intriguing solo, very different to others on this recording so far. His energy is kindling for the whole band who are always at the point of simmering over when he gets deeper into his improvisations. Rudy Van Gelder's masterful production is in evidence throughout this record, especially as The Kicker boots the jazz football through the goals. Henderson's compositional contribution to the record, this masculine, fast-paced standard has Humphries playing at his most inventive on this record, possibly more in his fills than in his final solo. Silver was disatisfied with the initial result of the album and essentially hired a new band to record the funk-bop hybrid colours. The mellow outro, Lonely Woman has Silver playing with only trio and one feels like it would have been good to hear more from sax and trumpet throughout. The high register of Silver has a transparency which is immensely enjoyable, even when there is more challenging harmony, such as the whole tone run we hear midway through. The tune ends a minute too early and then develops into an extended, pulled back coda, every bit as lonely as it is hip. It may feel subtle and understated compared to contemporary offerings, but its place as a sonic seed for funk cannot be dismissed.