The Horace Silver Quintet – Serenade To A Soul Sister (Blue Note Classic)

Horace Silver had been delivering hard bop classic after hard bop classic for more than a decade when he shifted gears and began moving into more groovy territory with 1966’s The Jody Grind. When the pianist next went into Van Gelder Studio in 1968 he kept it funky with another memorable soul jazz outing on Serenade to a Soul Sister. The album, which presented six Silver originals, was recorded between two sessions held a month apart with two different quintets. The first date featured Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums, and produced Side 1 of the LP including the high-octane opener “Psychedelic Sally” and the groove waltz “Serenade to a Soul Sister.” The second date also featured Tolliver but with Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone, John Williams on bass, and Billy Cobham on drums. The three tunes captured by the latter quintet comprise Side 2 including the percolating “Jungle Juice” and tender ballad “Next Time I Fall In Love” which closes the album.

Reviews

"One of Horace Silver's last great albums for Blue Note and one of the pianist's most infectiously cheerful and best-humored works," was Steve Huey's verdict in his review of "Serenade To A Soul Sister" for AllMusic, giving the album four and a half stars. In the liner notes, the pianist had outlined his compositional guidelines in a few points in 1968: Melodic and harmonic beauty, expressive simplicity, rhythm and spiritual influences. And this is exactly what you will find in abundance on "Serenade To A Soul Sister". Allmusic

A1 Psychedelic Sally
A2 Serenade To A Soul Sister
A3 Rain Dance
B1 Jungle Juice
B2 Kindred Spirits
B3 Next Time I Fall In Love