Horace Silver - In Search Of The 27th Man
Released - March 1973
Recording and Session Information
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, October 6, 1972
David Friedman, vibes; Horace Silver, piano; Bob Cranshaw, electric bass; Mickey Roker, drums.
10674 Summer In Central Park
11480 Strange Vibes
10672 Kathy
11479 In Pursuit Of The 27th Man
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 10, 1972
Randy Brecker, trumpet, flugelhorn; Michael Brecker, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Bob Cranshaw, electric bass; Mickey Roker, drums.
10671 Liberated Brother
11478 Nothin' Can Stop Me Now
10673 Gregory Is Here
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| Liberated Brother | Irvine | November 10 1972 |
| Kathy | Evans, Livingston, Santos | October 6 1972 |
| Gregory Is Here | H. Silver | November 10 1972 |
| Summer in Central Park | H. Silver | October 6 1972 |
| Side Two | ||
| Nothin' Can Stop Me Now | H. Silver | November 10 1972 |
| In Pursuit of the 27th Man | H. Silver | October 6 1972 |
| Strange Vibes | H. Silver | October 6 1972 |
Liner Notes
Although the trumpet-tenor sound remains in this LP, we have endeavored to use a different instrument, namely the vibraphone, which has never been used in any of our previous recordings and brings a different tonal color to the Horace Silver small combo sound. One of the compositions has lyrics. The lyrics are printed so that the listener may get an understanding of the meaning behind the song. The composition that has lyrics is self-explanatory, the ones without I shall endeavor to describe in brief.
"Liberated Brother" was written by Weldon Irvine, a friend and a fine young pianist, composer and arranger. His songs have been recorded by such notables as Freddie Hubbard, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Stanley Turrentine and Nina Simone. He worked with Miss Simone throughout 1968 and 1969 and is the author of the lyrics on her well-known composition "To Be Young, Gifted And Black." I asked Weldon what he meant by the title "Liberated Brother," and he replied, "The liberation of the mind, body and spirit." In searching for the right combination of tunes to complete this LP, I needed a certain type of song that would put the musical icing on the cake and "Liberated Brother" was it.
"Kathy" was written by Moacir Santos, a great composer and arranger and a dear friend. It is a composition I've long admired. Moacir is one of Brazil's finest composers and arrangers and is now living in Los Angeles. His compositions "Nana" and "Coisa No. 2." were recorded by Sergio Mendes. Moacir will be recording his first LP in this country for Blue Note, which will be released shortly. I anxiously await its release for I know it will be music of great depth, beauty and originality.
"Gregory Is Here" is dedicated to my son Gregory who was named six months before he arrived. When he finally came, there was nothing to say but, "Gregory Is Here."
"Summer In Central Park": When summer comes to New York, I enjoy bike riding in Central Park. To us New Yorkers, it's like escaping to the country for a few hours right within the city. Some of the summer activities within the park include band concerts, sidewalk cafes, sports, horseback riding, the zoo, boating, theatre, bike riding, etc. I particularly enjoy the latter, which inspired this composition.
Nothin' Can Stop Me Now
Nothin' can stop me now.
A bran' new day is dawnin'.
Woke up, free of my blues
this mornin'.
Nothin' can stop me now.
The negative view is hollow.
Take a positive view to follow.
The road's been bum-py,
My mood's been grum-py,
But now my mind's free.
I'm movin' on, it won't take long.
Nothin' can stop me now.
I've made up my mind completely.
Only positive views
will lead me.
@ 1972 Ecaroh Music, Inc. Lyrics by Horace Silver
"In Pursuit Of The 27th Man": In listening to this composition, I can envision a chase scene. Someone running after someone or something. The 27th man is representative of the improved advanced man of the future that we are all striving to become. If one has a faint knowledge of numerology, one can derive added meaning from the numbers in this title "Strange Vibes": The melodic art harmonic structure of this composition suggest to me a somewhat sinister air with an underlying blues quality. The mood is bit strange and vibes are featured here, hence the title "Strange Vibes."
I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all the musicians involved for their cooperation and excellent portrayal of the compositions and to the other composers thanks for the wonderful material. A special thanks to all the people behind the scenes who were involved in production, photography, artwork, graphics, engineering, etc. From all of us to all of you, we do hope that you will have many enjoyable hours of listening as we are In Pursuit Of The 27th Man.
—Horace Silver
RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes
HORACE SILVER
IN PURSUIT OF THE 27th MAN
For musicians of Horace Silver's generation, the jazz world was experiencing significant changes in the early '70s. The U.S. nightclub circuit continued to shrink, and those jazz clubs that remained were abandoning the bookings of a week or longer that sustained touring groups. In addition, independent record labels that had documented the music's growth in the first decade of the 12" LP format were being absorbed by larger companies and curtailing, when not totally eliminating, new recordings of acoustic players. Many of the opportunities that did remain for concert appearances and new studio projects focused on fusion, in either its harder-rocking or proto-smooth varieties. The ebb in popularity for straight-ahead modern playing was severe, and would be underscored when Dexter Gordon brought his tenor sax home to spark renewed audience interest in 1976.
Silver was one of the very few major jazz artists who possessed the resources to weather this rocky period, As the '60s ended, he had begun to withdraw from constant touring, in part due to an arthritic condition that did not allow for full-time performing, The years of fixed personnel and long road stretches for Silver's popular quintet gave way to briefer tours that featured promising new trumpet and tenor players, Things were also different at Blue Note, Silver's recording base since 1952, The label had been sold to Liberty, which in turn was acquired by United Artists; Alfred Lion had retired and, after stepping into the producer's role, Lion's partner Francis Wolff had died, Yet Silver remained a Blue Note artist, working with producer George Butler and creating multiple-album projects that featured new colors and a thematic stress on such "Consciousness Three" concerns of the time as proper diet, environmentalism and self-improvement. Three volumes of The United States Of Mind, featuring vocalists singing Silver lyrics, were produced in less than a year during 1970-71 and immediately preceded the present collection, while an even larger five-album cycle in which the Silver quintet sound was surrounded by different orchestral sections of brass, woodwinds, voices, percussion and strings was launched in 1975, after Silver had moved from New York City to California. These last Silver 'N' albums would carry him to the end of his Blue Note contract and the creation of his own Silveto label at the end of the decade.
In Pursuit Of The 27th Man was an anomaly amidst these larger projects — two concepts in a single album rather, than one concept stretched over several albums. Four of its tracks employ a quartet format with the vibes of David Friedman, a classically trained percussionist who was being heard in all manner of musical settings from symphonic to folk/rock, including Wayne Shorter's final Blue Note effort Odyssey Of/ska, Silver had worked productively with vibes at the beginning of his recording career with Milt Jackson, and Jackson's self-titled 1955 quartet album on Prestige (essentially the MJQ with Silver in John Lewis's chair) offers a good point of comparison for these quartet tracks. It also bears noting that "Summer In Central Park" recalls in its title, waltz tempo and graceful melody, Lewis's MJQ staple "Skating In Central Park." Friedman is distinctly personal here, as well as on the cyclical "Kathy" in 5/4 time, the minor Latin title track, and the suspended blues "Strange Vibes," where the superb brushwork of Mickey Roker is another delight.
The remaining three titles are in Silver's more familiar mode, and find the Brecker Brothers near the start of their major-league jazz career. Randy Brecker had previously been a Silver regular for a year and a half in 1969-70, and had appeared on two previous Silver albums with either Bennie Maupin, George Coleman or Houston Person as his front-line partner. On this second, eight-month stint as a Silver sideman, he was joined by his younger brother Michael. Both Breckers testified to the challenges of Silver's music, his uncommon organizational skills, positive personality, and integrity in a 1977 edition of Radio Free Jazz (the precursor to JazzTimes) that celebrated the pianist's 25th anniversary on Blue Note. They are featured here on the funky 16-bar "Liberated Brother," "Gregory Is Here" (a typical Silver construction with an elongated 16-bar A section and a standard eight-bar bridge) and the affirmative "Nothin' Can Stop Me Now" in 6/8 time.
As usual, when Silver looked to outside composers he found material perfectly in keeping with his own approach. "Kathy" is a particularly Silverian opus, and was heard again as a feature for the flute of Jerome Richardson on Saudade, the second of saxophonist/composer Moacir Santos's three Blue Note efforts.
The resources Silver brought to bear in riding out this low point in the jazz business were in part financial, thanks to a body of original music that had already attained classic status and been covered by countless musicians in and out of the jazz world. That Silver's artistic resources also remained substantial is confirmed by this intriguing two-part program.
— Bob Blumenthal, 2001
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