Horace Silver - The Tokyo Blues

Title: The Tokyo Blues Artist: Horace Silver Release Date: 1962 Re-Released On: 7/14/2009 Label: Blue Note, Toshiba EMI Duration: 39:43 UPCs: 400000013381, 4988006694859, 4988006756267, 4988006828001, 4988006864238, 5099926514628, 724385335525, 0724385335556, 724385335556, 498800682800 Genre: Jazz Styles: Soul Jazz, Hard Bop, Jazz Instrument, Piano Jazz Moods: Amiable/Good-Natured, Cheerful, Earthy, Exuberant, Freewheeling, Fun, Humorous, Joyous, Organic, Playful, Sophisticated, Stylish, Bravado, Carefree, Dramatic, Earnest, Energetic, Gritty, Happy, Literate, Lively, Party/Celebratory, Passionate, Rousing, Searching, Slick, Street-Smart, Uplifting, Warm, Witty, Wry Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 2 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Too Much Sake
2. Sayonara Blues
3. The Tokyo Blues
4. Cherry Blossom
5. Ah! So

Year Type Label Catalog # 2009 CD Blue Note 651462 2007 CD Toshiba EMI 6493 2004 CD Blue Note 4110 2004 CD Blue Note 9068 1996 CD Blue Note 53355B 1962 CD Blue Note

No other editions were found for this album.

Following a series of concert dates in Tokyo late in 1961 with his quintet, Horace Silver returned to the U.S. with his head full of the Japanese melodies he had heard during his visit, and using those as a springboard, he wrote four new pieces, which he then recorded at sessions held on July 13 and 14, 1962, along with a version of Ronnell Bright's little known ballad "Cherry Blossom." One would naturally assume the resulting LP would have a Japanese feel, but that really isn't the case. Using latin rhythms and the blues as a base, Silver's Tokyo-influenced compositions fit right in with the subtle cross-cultural but very American hard bop he'd been doing all along. Using his usual quintet (Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor sax, Gene Taylor on bass) with drummer Joe Harris (he is listed as John Harris, Jr. for this set) filling in for an ailing Roy Brooks), Silver's compositions have a light, airy feel, with plenty of space, and no one used that space better at these sessions than Cook, whose tenor sax lines are simply wonderful, adding a sturdy, reliable brightness. The centerpieces are the two straight blues, "Sayonara Blues" and "The Tokyo Blues," both of which have a delightfully natural flow, and the building, patient take on Bright's "Cherry Blossom," which Silver takes pains to make sure sounds like a ballad and not a barely restrained minor-key romp. The bottom line is that The Tokyo Blues emerges as a fairly typical Silver set from the era and not as a grandiose fusion experiment welding hard bop to Japanese melodies. That might have been interesting, certainly, but Silver obviously assimilated things down to a deeper level before he wrote these pieces, and they feel like a natural extension of his work rather than an experimental detour. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

Name Credits Alfred Lion Producer Amanda Wray Reissue Design Atsuhiko Kawabata Original Liner Notes, Liner Notes Blue Mitchell Trumpet Bob Blumenthal Liner Notes Francis Wolff Cover Photo, Photography Gene Taylor Bass Gordon Jee Reissue Director Horace Silver Piano Joe Harris Drums John Harris Drums Junior Cook Sax (Tenor) Michael Cuscuna Reissue Producer Patrick Roques Redesign Reid Miles Cover Design Rudy Van Gelder Engineer, Remastering