Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is an album by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers compiling two 1955 10" LPs—Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 3 (BLP 5058) and Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 4 (BLP 5062)—recorded on November 13, 1954 and February 6, 1955 respectively and released on Blue Note in October 1956—Silver’s debut 12". The quintet features horn section Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham and rhythm section Doug Watkins and Art Blakey.

Background

Recording

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".

Release

Originally released as an LP, the album has subsequently been reissued on CD several times.

Style and legacy

The music on the album mixes bebop influences with blues and gospel feels. These recordings helped establish the hard bop style. These were the first sessions in which he used the quintet format which he would largely use for the rest of his career.

Reception

AllMusic critic Scott Yanow called it "a true classic".

Track listing