Horace Silver Archives - JAZZ IMPRESSIONS

Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast – Episode 11 (A Mildly Festive Special)

Grab your winter coat and koto, we’re back with a slightly seasonal special! In this episode, we chart floral and festive paths from the library music-inspired serenity of Sven Wunder’s ‘Snowdrops’, to Roland Kirk’s honktacular rendering of ‘We Free Kings’. En route we take in hip-hop, Japanese jazz and even some Christmas music, plus a brief rundown of some of our favourite albums of the year. Stay tuned as we get cooking again in 2024.

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Tracklists below (SPOILERS!)

Steely Dan – Gaucho

In our previous post, Dan wrote on the Steely Dan (not to be confused with British folk rock group Steeleye Span) Silver-inspired classic ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’. Last weekend marked the 40th year anniversary of their 1980 album Gaucho and so it seemed a natural way to continue our journey of musical connections.

Steely Dan – Rikki Don’t Lose That Number

Pop fans may be hearing more jazz than they realise. James Brown’s 1967 single ‘Cold Sweat’ is indebted to Miles Davis’ ‘So What’, the opening track on Kind of Blue (1959) – which came full circle when Davis was inspired by Brown’s funky sounds for On the Corner (1972). Van Morrison (who recently became an “antifascist” because he didn’t want to wear a mask) based ‘Moondance’ (1970) on Kenny Burrell’s jazz guitar classic ‘Midnight Blue’ (1963). And the intro of Horace Silver’s ‘Song For My Father’ is lifted verbatim by Steely Dan’s 1974 hit, ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.’

The Horace Silver Quintet – Song For My Father

In October 1963, coinciding with the recent release of his debut album as leader on Blue Note, a young Joe Henderson was scouted by influential pianist Horace Silver to play in a new quintet he was putting together. From the sessions which followed came Song For My Father (1965), Silver’s most famous album and a bona fide Blue Note classic.