| Horace Silver - Live at Newport |
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One shouldn't dwell too much on the past, but it's hard not to every time Blue Note releases a live one from the vault. First, in 2005, came the now-legendary 1957 Thelonious Monk set featuring John Coltrane. 2006 brought us a 1971 burner from guitar god Grant Green (Live at Club Mozambique). 2007 saw a devastating double-disc from the Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy (Cornell 1964) and now, to top it all off, we have Live at Newport '58, from Horace Silver. The Newport tape, discovered by producer Michael Cuscuna in the Library of Congress' archives of the Voice of America broadcasts, documents Silver's headlining spot at the festival that year, and is only the second official live record from Silver, whose career spans nearly six decades (the first was 1961's Doin' the Thing: At the Village Gate, also on Blue Note). Newport opens with the little known "Tippin'" and continues with "The Outlaw," a swingin' Latin piece featuring great solo work from trumpeter Louis Smith. The down-and-dirty "Senor Blues" follows, and Silver shows us what he can do with nothing but a slow groove and plenty of space. "Cool Eyes" takes us home, but we'd rather be hanging with Horace. - Brad Farberman
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