Horace Silver - Blowin' The Blues Away (1959/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

"Blowin’ The Blues Away" is widely considered of Silver’s definitive albums. In full stride, Silver is joined by his classic quintet, which includes trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Eugene Taylor and drummer Louis Hayes. It features some of Silver’s finest compositions including “Peace” and “Sister Sadie”. Absolutely riveting.

Blowin' the Blues Away is one of Horace Silver's all-time Blue Note classics, only upping the ante established on Finger Poppin' for tightly constructed, joyfully infectious hard bop. This album marks the peak of Silver's classic quintet with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Louis Hayes; it's also one of the pianist's strongest sets of original compositions, eclipsed only by Song for My Father and Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. The pacing of the album is impeccable, offering up enough different feels and slight variations on Silver's signature style to captivate the listener throughout. Two songs – the warm, luminous ballad "Peace" and the gospel-based call-and-response swinger "Sister Sadie" – became oft-covered standards of Silver's repertoire, and the madly cooking title cut wasn't far behind. And they embody what's right with the album in a nutshell – the up-tempo tunes ("Break City") are among the hardest-swinging Silver had ever cut, and the slower changes of pace ("Melancholy Mood") are superbly lyrical, adding up to one of the best realizations of Silver's aesthetic. Also, two cuts ("Melancholy Mood" and the easy-swinging "The St. Vitus Dance") give Silver a chance to show off his trio chops, and "Baghdad Blues" introduces his taste for exotic, foreign-tinged themes. Through it all, Silver remains continually conscious of the groove, playing off the basic rhythms to create funky new time patterns. The typical high-impact economy of his and the rest of the band's statements is at its uppermost level, and everyone swings with exuberant commitment. In short, Blowin' the Blues Away is one of Silver's finest albums, and it's virtually impossible to dislike.

Tracklist:

01 - The Horace Silver Quintet - Blowin' The Blues Away
02 - Horace Silver Trio - The St. Vitus Dance
03 - The Horace Silver Quintet - Break City
04 - The Horace Silver Quintet - Peace
05 - The Horace Silver Quintet - Sister Sadie
06 - The Horace Silver Quintet - Baghdad Blues
07 - Horace Silver Trio - Melancholy Mood

Produced by Alfred Lion. Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.
Recorded on August 29–30 & September 13, 1959 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Musicians:
Horace Silver - piano
Blue Mitchell - trumpet
Junior Cook - tenor saxophone
Eugene Taylor - bass
Louis Hayes - drums


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