Horace Silver Quintet
Blowing The Blues Away

When Horace Silver recorded ‘Blowin The Blues Away’ in the summer of 1959, the pianist was established as one of Blue Note’s most popular artists and in-demand live performers. The vitality and a vibrancy of his playing reflected his musical persona and his take on Jazz is wholly infectious and enchanting. The opening track ‘Blowin The Blues Away’, a case in point, is a blistering blowing session with Silver’s resident horn front men Junior Cook and Blue Mitchell in lung busting form. ‘St Vitus Dance’ is intricate yet its melody quite simple. There are no horns on this track with only bassist Gene Taylor and drummer Louis Hayes for company. The fast paced ‘Break City’ is a typical Silver piece of Hard Bop, and no less enjoyable for that. Both horns and pianist maintain a thunderous tempo, which Hayes jet propels behind his kit. In contrast, ‘Peace’ is quite possibly the most delicate piece of music Silver ever wrote or recorded, whose gorgeous melody is feather light. It has become a standard as has the swinging Hard Bop of ‘Sister Sadie’ that has hints of New Orleans to its catchy melody. The slightly Eastern flavoured ‘Baghdad Blues’ is another storming slice of Hard Bop. Silver masters this more intricate composition. The easy ‘Melancholy Mood’ is a piece he previously recorded on ‘Further Explorations’ in 1958. ‘Blowin’ The Blues Away’ is one of Horace Silver and indeed Blue Note’s finest albums.