Poll: the quintessential Blue Note pianist

[Rooster_Ties]

Horace Silver participated on over 50 Blue Note recordings, as a leader and a sideman.

If there ever was a pianist who defined the Blue Note sound, it was him.

By my count, Herbie was on more than 40 sessions for Blue Note.

Was Horace Silver ever a sideman on any dates in the 60's???

[Daniel A]

I voted for Herbie. Since most of my favorite BNs are from the 60s I suppose his sound is closer to my view of the Blue Note sound than Clark.

A name which deserves to be mentioned is McCoy Tyner, who played on some 35 Blue Note albums, from out-ish Joe Henderson dates to rather commercial Stanley Turrentine sessions.

Edited May 28, 2003 by Daniel A

[Rooster_Ties]

Yeah, good question. Where's McCoy???

I think of him -- more than Monk, Powell, Harris, or Nichols, and actually more than Sliver even (personally).

[jazzbo]

Well, I might have been tempted to vote for James P. Johnson or Art Hodes if they were up there!

[ghost of miles]

Ah, well, time for me to get my lumps for the names I omitted, inadvertently for the most part. I guess I associate Tyner so strongly with Coltrane's 1960's sound--which, on the surface anyway, does not seem to resemble the "Blue Note sound" very much--that I neglected to put him in there. Ammons and Lewis, whom Jim Sangrey mentioned, did cross my mind, but they--along with Johnson and Hodes--represent the dawning years of the label, and while they helped set the template in some ways, they don't represent what I think of as the Blue Note sound. (Ouch, I feel the flames already!) In retrospect I probably should have included Tyner and one of the Ammons/Lewis/Johnson/Hodes coterie, and dropped one or two of the iconoclasts.

I voted for Hancock, by the way, after the initial Silver/Clark twinge. I think Herbie's range touched nearly every aspect of the BN aesthetic.

[mikeweil]

I had to vote for Herbie. Since he could really do it all, both 'inside' as well as 'outside'-leaning dates - he seemed like the one pianist who really best represented all of what Blue Note was all about during it's prime years.

That says what I think about it - I voted for Herbie for these reasons, too.

[chris olivarez]

All good choices but Horace Silver does it for me.

[JohnJ]

Not my favorite, but I have always regarded Horace Silver as the quintessential Blue Note pianist, or perhaps more accurately the quintessential hard bop pianist.

[John Tapscott]

Man, this is a horse race, maybe the tightest poll I ever remember on this Board!

Just a couple of thoughts. Interesting to see the excellent pianists getting no votes at all; I thought Andrew Hill might garner a few. Though I didn't in

the end vote for Horace Parlan, I did consider him for a few moments and I'm glad he's picked up a few votes. And even before I saw the nominees listed, the first name which popped into my mind was McCoy Tyner, but perhaps that's because I've been listening to some McCoy discs lately. In retrospect, he probably should have been on the list, and might have received a few votes, though not up there up there with Silver and Clark.

[paul secor]

Voted for Bud, in part just to be contrary, but mainly because everyone else on the list (except Monk) took so much from his playing.

[connoisseur series500]

I'm glad Duke Pearson got a vote. He carried "the sound" and defined it during the last glory years of the label. Of course, I voted for Silver, but Sonny Clark and Herbie Hancock could have received the vote as well.

[BruceH]

The tie is broken! It's Sonny by a nose!

[MagicAlex]

What a difficult choice! So much great music and all are worthy in one way or another. I have to go with Horace ultimately when it comes to definining the Blue Note sound. Hancock is a great candidate as well but he seemed to come along later in the game and probably defined a new direction for BN.

I love them all!

[Jim Alfredson]

I broke the tie. I went with Silver. As much as I like Sonny Clark, I think Silver really did define the sound. I mean, Song For My Father? Room 608? Serendae For A Soul Sister? Tokyo Blues? Do I need to say more?

[wesbed]

Wow, what a poll!

I narrowed my choice to Sonny Clark and Horace Silver. Hmmm... Silver is my choice. Horace sounds like Blue Note to me. Although Sonny Clark is a very close second. Clark may have been my first choice on a different day.