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.

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Compilation album by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Released	October 1956
Recorded	November 13, 1954 February 6, 1955
Studio	Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre	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 (1956) Silver's Blue (1956)
Jazz Messengers chronology
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1956) At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 (1956)

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 3
Studio album by the Horace Silver Quintet
Released	1955
Recorded	November 13, 1954
Studio	Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, NJ
Label	Blue Note BLP 5058

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 4
Studio album by the Horace Silver Quintet
Released	1955
Recorded	February 6, 1955
Studio	Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, NJ
Label	Blue Note BLP 5062

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.^[1] 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".^[2]

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.^{[citation needed]}

These recordings helped establish the hard bop style.^{[citation needed]}

These were the first sessions in which he used the quintet format which he would largely use for the rest of his career.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]

AllMusic critic Scott Yanow called it "a true classic".^[6]

Track listing

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers – BLP 1518

Side 1

No.	Title	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Room 608"	November 13, 1954	5:22
2.	"Creepin' In"	November 13, 1954	7:26
3.	"Stop Time"	November 13, 1954	4:07
4.	"To Whom It May Concern"	February 6, 1955	5:11

All tracks are written by Horace Silver, except as noted.

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Date recorded	Length
5.	"Hippy"		February 6, 1955	5:23
6.	"The Preacher"		February 6, 1955	4:18
7.	"Hankerin'"	Hank Mobley	February 6, 1955	5:18
8.	"Doodlin'"		November 13, 1954	6:45

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 3 – BLP 5058

Side 1

No.	Title	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Room 608"	November 13, 1954
2.	"Creepin' In"	November 13, 1954

All tracks are written by Horace Silver

Side 2

No.	Title	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Doodlin'"	November 13, 1954
2.	"Stop Time"	November 13, 1954

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 4 – BLP 5062

Side 1

No.	Title	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Hippy"	February 6, 1955
2.	"The Preacher"	February 6, 1955

All tracks are written by Horace Silver, except as noted.

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Hankerin'"	Mobley	February 6, 1955
2.	"To Whom It May Concern"		February 6, 1955

Personnel

Horace Silver Quintet

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

Technical personnel

• Alfred Lion – production
• Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer
• Reid Miles – design
• Francis Wolff – photography

References

1. Silver, H. (2007): Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver, University of California Press, p. 79-80
2. Rosenthal, D. H. (1992): Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955–1965, OUP, p. 38
3. Allmusic review
4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 181. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008) The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th edition). Penguin. p. 1298.
6. Allmusic: Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers – Review