Horace Silver Quintet

LP version. Silver's Serenade is the last album Horace Silver recorded with the most celebrated line-up of his quintet. Alongside him are Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor saxophone, Gene Taylor on bass and Roy Brooks on drums. Released by Blue Note in August 1963, it is a programme of five Silver compositions and the closing chapter of one of the defining bands of hard bop.

The session took place on May 7 and 8, 1963, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, with Alfred Lion producing and Rudy Van Gelder at the controls. The core of the band had been together since 1959 and had already recorded hard bop staples such as Finger Poppin' and Blowin' The Blues Away. Brooks joined in 1960, first appearing on Horace-Scope. By 1963 the five musicians knew each other's habits thoroughly, and the arrangements sit with the ease of a working group rather than a studio date.

Every piece is a Silver original, and together they sum up his way of writing. The melodies stick at first hearing, the harmonies hold more than they let on, and the rhythmic figures are worked into the themes over a steady swing. The title track opens the album with a relaxed groove and, at over nine minutes, gives each soloist ample room. Between them come Let's Get To The Nitty Gritty, Sweet Sweetie Dee and The Dragon Lady, each built on the same balance of tune and groove. Nineteen Bars closes the record at a hard-charging tempo, a strong finish for the group's last album together.

Mitchell and Cook take most of the solo space. Silver comps behind them with the punchy, blues-rooted piano that defined his sound, and the two-horn theme statements carry his signature. The original sleeve notes are by Joel Dorn.

This stereo Tone Poet edition was produced by Joe Harley and mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analogue master tapes. It is pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.