Horace Silver at Newport 1958

[BruceH]

Louis Smith kicks rightous ass on this album!

My only criticism of the album is the cover could be better.

Quite like the cover art m'self.

I d'know...it makes me think that Horace is caught in some topological nightmare.

[Stereojack]

I kinda like the cover. The music is sublime.

[CJ Shearn]

the cover design reminds me of the late 40's early 50's ten inch BN covers, like "Genius of Modern Music", I gotta pick this new record up. On a side note, I was reading an article on Christian McBride's site that Horace suffers from Alzheimer's. how long has he had it?

[Lazaro Vega]

Yeah, Louis suffered a stroke two years ago. He's getting out more though still dealing with redeveloping his speech. Friends in Ann Arbor said he and his wife were in the crowd at Hill Auditorium recently for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's version of Ellington love songs. He was seen talking to friends and is otherwise on the mend. Great guy. His concert at Blue Lake in the 1980's, with the late pianist Eddie Russ, is still a favorite tape to pull out and enjoy.

[BruceH]

I kinda like the cover. The music is sublime.

No argument there.

[kh1958]

I made the mistake of pre-ordering this one from Newbury and still don't have my copy, a week after the release date.

[Bright Moments]

was this a cuscuna "find" at the library of congress?

even though no one answered this question - i seem to remember this being the case.

and FWIW this is one SMOKIN' cd!!

ESSENTIAL IMHO!!!

[Swinging Swede]

was this a cuscuna "find" at the library of congress?

even though no one answered this question - i seem to remember this being the case.

That was where he first heard this Newport set, but he then found out that Columbia recorded the entire festival (in stereo), so the CD is mastered from tapes in the Columbia vaults.

[BeBop]

Yeah, Louis suffered a stroke two years ago. He's getting out more though still dealing with redeveloping his speech. Friends in Ann Arbor said he and his wife were in the crowd at Hill Auditorium recently for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's version of Ellington love songs. He was seen talking to friends and is otherwise on the mend. Great guy. His concert at Blue Lake in the 1980's, with the late pianist Eddie Russ, is still a favorite tape to pull out and enjoy.

I caught Louis SMith a couple of times in 2004 and 2005 (including the '05 Detroit Jazz Festival). I'm pretty sure he said he was teaching in Ann Arbot at this time and playing pretty regularly at a local club. (I've got it in the back of my mind that Organissimo played there too, but I could be nuts.) I can't say he was playing at the same level as that excellent first Blue Note album (with Cannonball (Buckshot) Adderly!), but it was still a joy to hear him.

Nice 14-page interview with Smith. (Not mine.)

http://www.alexander-graham.com/louis_smith.pdf

[chris olivarez]

Louis Smith was also on the Kenny Burrell "Blue Lights" cd.

[jazzbo]

I agree Evan, this is a smokin' cd!

[BeBop]

I agree Evan, this is a smokin' cd!

Y'all are costing me money here.

[CJ Shearn]

got mine and just spun it. Smoking indeed, excellent Louis Smith and Louis Hayes

[BruceH]

Agree with all the love for Silver at Newport 1958 here---really glad I got it.

[CJ Shearn]

I think JOS played at Newport in '57, hopefully they can release that too

[mikeweil]

Got it yesterday - the music is very good, though I think two of the heads are played a little sloppily. Solos are all good - notice how different Louis Hayes' snare sound is compared to the RVG studio sessions!

And I wish they'd have done Cool Eyes at the slower tempo like on the only Silver Epic LP (where its titled To Beat or Not To Beat) - I think the slower tempo fits the theme much better.

Oh well ...

[andybleaden]

still loving this a week on

[Larry Kart]

The interaction among Horace, Gene Taylor, and Louis Hayes during Horace's solos is something else -- Hard Bop par excellence, on a level with the interaction among Sonny Clark, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe on the title track of "Cool Struttin,'" which in its own way is as compositional as Morton's Red Hot Peppers. Back to the Newport album, the whole band sounds so fresh and foxy -- everyone is digging everyone else and bouncing right out to us their pleasure in what's bouncing back at them from their fellows. Yummy.

[six string]

I looked for this last weekend at one of my locals, but they didn't have it. It sounds like something a must have for me.

[DMP]

At the "Itunes" store, the only track available as a single download is the introduction! 99 cents for Willis Conover talking for 44 seconds!! Is there a market for that? Do people load up their Ipods with this sort of thing??

[Dan Gould]

I commented about this in my own poll about how I should use last weekend's Borders coupon, but I might as well post here, too:

This CD belongs in every hard bop lover's collection! And Louis Smith is a serious mo-fo!! It would be great if some listen to this recording and decide to check out his late-career Steeplechase recordings.

[John L]

At the "Itunes" store, the only track available as a single download is the introduction! 99 cents for Willis Conover talking for 44 seconds!! Is there a market for that? Do people load up their Ipods with this sort of thing??

If you load in some Phil Schaap pause tracks, you can extend a 44 second introduction to 3 or 4 minutes or so.

[Dan Gould]

At the "Itunes" store, the only track available as a single download is the introduction! 99 cents for Willis Conover talking for 44 seconds!! Is there a market for that? Do people load up their Ipods with this sort of thing??

If you load in some Phil Schaap pause tracks, you can extend a 44 second introduction to 3 or 4 minutes or so.

But what if Orrin is running the stopwatch?