Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers

Updated on Nov 22, 2024

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Released October 1956 Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers(1955) Silver's Blue(1956) Producer Alfred Lion Genres Jazz, Hard bop		Length 43:50 Release date 1997 Label Blue Note Records
Recorded November 13, 1954 (#1-3, 8)February 6, 1955 (#4-7)Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers(1956) At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1(1955) Artists Horace Silver, The Jazz Messengers Similar Horace Silver albums, Hard bop albums, Other albums

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is a 1956 studio 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". Originally released as an LP, the album has subsequently been reissued on CD several times.

Horace silver and the jazz messengers room 608

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. 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".

Track listing

All tracks written by Horace Silver except where noted..

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