Blowin' The Blues Away＜限定盤＞

ハード・バップ最強クインテット、黄金時代の代表作。

1959年のホレス・シルヴァー・クインテットは、トランペッターのブルー・ミッチェル、サックス奏者のジュニア・クック、ベーシストのジーン・テイラー、ドラマーのルイス・ヘイズとともに、このピアニストをフィーチャーしたハード・バップのジャガーノートだった。"Sister Sadie"、"Peace"、そして威勢のいいタイトル曲のような時代を超越したオリジナル曲"、Blowin' The Blues Away"を収録し、シルヴァーの手強いディスコグラフィの中でも最高傑作のひとつにしている。

〈パーソネル〉Horace Silver (p) Blue Mitchell (tp) Junior Cook (sax) Gene Taylor (b) Louis Hayes (ds)

Blowin' the Blues Away is one of Horace Silver's all-time Blue Note classics, only upping the ante established on Finger Poppin' for tightly constructed, joyfully infectious hard bop. This album marks the peak of Silver's classic quintet with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Louis Hayes; it's also one of the pianist's strongest sets of original compositions, eclipsed only by Song for My Father and Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. The pacing of the album is impeccable, offering up enough different feels and slight variations on Silver's signature style to captivate the listener throughout. Two songs -- the warm, luminous ballad "Peace" and the gospel-based call-and-response swinger "Sister Sadie" -- became oft-covered standards of Silver's repertoire, and the madly cooking title cut wasn't far behind. And they embody what's right with the album in a nutshell -- the up-tempo tunes ("Break City") are among the hardest-swinging Silver had ever cut, and the slower changes of pace ("Melancholy Mood") are superbly lyrical, adding up to one of the best realizations of Silver's aesthetic. Also, two cuts ("Melancholy Mood" and the easy-swinging "The St. Vitus Dance") give Silver a chance to show off his trio chops, and "Baghdad Blues" introduces his taste for exotic, foreign-tinged themes. Through it all, Silver remains continually conscious of the groove, playing off the basic rhythms to create funky new time patterns. The typical high-impact economy of his and the rest of the band's statements is at its uppermost level, and everyone swings with exuberant commitment. In short, Blowin' the Blues Away is one of Silver's finest albums, and it's virtually impossible to dislike. ~ Steve Huey