“Fremeaux & Associates is one of the top jazz labels from France. While Fremeaux is a wide-ranging company that also releases other kinds of music, it has several jazz series that are quite notable including previously unreleased live sessions of American greats in Europe, career retrospectives, and a complete Django Reinhardt series. Horace Silver’s Live In Paris 14 Fevrier 1959 releases for the initial time the pianist-composer’s first Paris concert. With trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor-saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Louis Hayes, Silver is heard leading the most famous version of his quintet, one that had just recorded Finger Poppin’ for Blue Note. Their Paris set features the group on lengthy versions of “The Preacher,” the uptempo “Room 608,” “Doodlin’” (which is 18 minutes long), “Senor Blues” and the obscure piano feature “Sweet Stuff.” The performances are more bop and less funk-oriented than they would become with Cook (a new member of the group) taking lengthy solos that inspired the other musicians. Silver, who by the early 1950s had developed a distinctive solo style that was different from that of his contemporaries (most of whom owed large debts to Bud Powell), is in excellent form, peppering his improvisations with unexpected song quotes.”
By Scott YANOW - LOS ANGELES JAZZ SCENE
By Scott YANOW - LOS ANGELES JAZZ SCENE