Horace Silver - The Cape Verdean Blues '1965 [2010]

Tracks list

After the success of Song for My Father and its hit title cut, Horace Silver was
moved to pay further tribute to his dad, not to mention connect with some of his
roots. Silver's father was born in the island nation of Cape Verde (near West
Africa) before emigrating to the United States, and that's the inspiration
behind The Cape Verdean Blues. Not all of the tracks are directly influenced by
the music of Cape Verde (though some do incorporate Silver's taste for light
exoticism); however, there's a spirit of adventure that pervades the entire
album, a sense of exploration that wouldn't have been quite the same with
Silver's quintet of old. On average, the tracks are longer than usual, and the
lineup -- featuring tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson (a holdover from the Song
for My Father sessions) and trumpeter Woody Shaw -- is one of the most
modernist-leaning Silver ever recorded with. They push Silver into more advanced
territory than he was normally accustomed to working, with mild dissonances and
(especially in Henderson's case) a rawer edge to the playing. What's more, bop
trombone legend J.J. Johnson appears on half of the six tracks, and Silver
sounds excited to finally work with a collaborator he'd been pursuing for some
time. Johnson ably handles some of the album's most challenging material, like
the moody, swelling "Bonita" and the complex, up-tempo rhythms of "Nutville."
Most interesting, though, is the lilting title track, which conjures the flavor
of the islands with a blend of Latin-tinged rhythms and calypso melodies that
nonetheless don't sound quite Caribbean in origin. Also noteworthy are "The
African Queen," with its blend of emotional power and drifting hints of freedom,
and "Pretty Eyes," Silver's first original waltz. Yet another worthwhile Silver
album.


Tracks:

01. The Cape Verdean Blues (5:00)
02. The African Queen (9:37)
03. Pretty Eyes (7:31)
04. Nutville (7:15)
05. Bonita (8:38)
06. Mo' Joe (5:46)

Personnel:

Horace Silver - piano
Woody Shaw - trumpet
Joe Henderson - tenor sax
J. J. Johnson - trombone
Bob Cranshaw - bass
Roger Humphries - drums

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