BST 84420

Horace Silver - All

Released - 1972

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 17, 1972
Horace Silver, electric piano, vocals; Bob Cranshaw, electric bass #1,3-5; Mickey Roker, drums #1,3-5; Salome Bey, vocals #1; Gail Nelson, vocals #2; Andy Bey, vocals #3-5.

9222 Forever Is A Long Time
9224 How Much Does Matter Really Matter
9221 Cause And Effect
8535 Who Has The Answer
8536 From The Heart Through The Mind

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 14, 1972
Cecil Bridgewater, trumpet, flugelhorn #1-4; Harold Vick, tenor sax #1-4; Horace Silver, electric piano, vocals; Richie Resnicoff, guitar #2,5; Bob Cranshaw, electric bass; Mickey Roker, drums; Andy Bey, Gail Nelson, vocals #1,2,5; Salome Bey, vocals #1-3,5.

8538 Summary
9220 The Merger Of The Minds
9223 My Soul Is My Computer
8534 Horn Of Life
8537 All

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
The Merger of the Minds	Horace Silver	February 14 1972
Cause and Effect	Horace Silver	January 17 1972
Forever Is a Long Long Time	Horace Silver	January 17 1972
My Soul Is My Computer	Horace Silver	February 14 1972
How Much Does Matter Really Matter	Horace Silver	January 17 1972
Side Two
Horn of Life	Horace Silver	February 14 1972
Who Has the Answer	Horace Silver	February 14 1972
From the Heart Through the Mind	Horace Silver	January 17 1972
All	Horace Silver	February 14 1972
Summary	Horace Silver	February 14 1972

Liner Notes

MUSIC AND THE SOUL

Music performed live brings people together. Music that is recorded reaches into all types of environment. Music knows no race, creed or color. Music is universal. The music or character of the soul played through the instrument of the body (according to how the mind has dealt with our experiences) brings forth harmony or discord, health or sickness. Music comes through the soul. Music emanating from spirit through the mind of the soul can help make me aware of the higher qualities of life and help change the character of my soul.

When an artist pours forth his soul to the souls of an audience, there is a rapport or sense of oneness which develops bringing with it mutual happiness and love. The words and melodies that are sung and played by an artist can have a memorable impression on an audience. In writing The United States of Mind, Phases One, Two, and Three, we have endeavored to write memorable melodies and words about the mind, body and soul. The poems or verses that are sung and played on these recordings are dedicated to that spiritual part of us that flows through the mind, body and soul — the real self, the spiritual self, which when acknowledged and allowed to operate through us, leads to Health, Happiness, Love, and Peace. — HORACE SILVER

POSTSCRIPT

In 1970, when Horace Silver embarked on The United States of Mind trilogy, the idea of using words with his music was not new. It started in 1957 when "Senor Blues" proved such a hit that Horace wrote his own lyrics; the following year, he brought Bill Henderson into the studio to cut a single of the vocal version for Blue Note. Babs Gonzales put words to "The Preacher" and recorded it. Jon Hendricks wrote ingenious lyrics to a handful of Silver classics which were performed by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, including "Come On Home," "Home Cookin' t" and "Cookin' at the Continental." In the Sixties, more lyrics came from Ira Gitler ("Filthy McNasty"), Eddie Jefferson (new lyrics to 'The Preacher"), and again Horace himself ("Psychedelic Sally") for Jefferson sessions. Andy and The Bey Sisters cut "Sister Sadie" with Horace's words. Leon Thomas recorded "Song for My Father" with lyrics by Ellen May Shashoyan.

But The United States of Mind was an important and deeply personal project for Horace, which involved creating songs rather than writing lyrics for an already existing piece of music. Horace approached this undertaking with the conviction and meticulousness that he brings to everything he does. But the preponderance of vocals coupled with the sincerity and seriousness of the subject matter left a lot of Horace Silver fans cold or confused. For Horace's core audience, every new Silver album was an event. And after years on a steady diet, what they'd come to expect was six brilliant, memorable instrumentals, skillfully arranged, and played by a state-of-the-art acoustic quintet. Here Horace was playing electric piano (and adding guitar on the second and third installments), and every track had vocal with a spiritual or metaphysical message.

If the public was slow to pick up these albums, musicians weren't. Organist Charles Earland immediately covered "The Happy Medium," doing his own singing. Marlena Shaw recorded "Wipe Away the Evil" and "The Show Has Begun." Both Dee Dee Bridgewater and Chet Baker made versions of "Love Vibrations," and Bridgewater opened Love and Peace, her 1995 album of Horace Silver songs, with "Permit Me to Introduce You to Yourself."

A single was released from each album, and "All," the title tune of the third album (and incidentally, Horace's vocal debut), became something of a radio hit, especially in Los Angeles. But still sales were disappointing and Horace concentrated on instrumental music for his next four albums before returning to lyrics and spiritual matters on a portion of his final Blue Note album, The Music of the Spheres.

By 1980, Blue Note was dormant. Horace, based in large part on the reception of The United States of Mind albums, decided to start his own label Silveto. In 2003, he told Fred Jung in Down Beat, "After I did that three-volume set The United States of Mind (That Healin' Feelin', Total Response, All), the particular music that I did on those recordings had a spiritual connotation to it. It had a lot of singing. It had a lot of good solos, too. It had more singing than I had on records before. I don't know why, but for some reason, it didn't sell that well, but I was very keen on doing this spiritual concept with the music and I knew that, at that time anyway and maybe even today, Blue Note or any other company probably wouldn't want to go for that concept. So I said that the only way that I will continue this concept is to do it myself. So I decided to start my own label."

Time has caught up with Horace. In the '90s, songs from these albums like "Acid, Pot, or Pills," "Won't You Open Up Your Senses, I've Had a Little Talk," and "Soul Searchin"' became popular on the club scene and started showing up on compilations aimed at the young "acid jazz" audience.

Supreme validation came in 2001. "Peace," which Horace originally recorded as an instrumental in 1959 for the Blowin' the Blues Away album, was the one vintage piece which he included on the first United States of Mind album, adding words. It is, without a doubt, his finest lyric. Over the years singers like Meredith D'Ambrosia and Adela Dalto covered the vocal version. In 2001 , a 21-year-old singer/pianist named Norah Jones cut a demo for Blue Note that included a riveting rendition of "Peace." The demo was pressed up as a limited-edition EP entitled First Sessions. Norah sold it at gigs and Blue Note circulated it to select radio stations, writers, and musicians. When the tragedy of September 11, 2001 struck, KCRW in Los Angeles began playing Norah's version of "Peace," and other stations followed suit. During an especially difficult time, it had an enormously soothing and healing effect on those who heard it. Horace's intent for this music had finally connected on a large scale when it was needed most.

— MICHAEL CUSCUNA, 2004