Song for My Father

1	Song for My Father / Horace Silver Quintet 7:18
2	The Natives Are Restless Tonight / Horace Silver Quintet 6:10
3	Calcutta Cutie / Horace Silver Quintet 8:31
4	Que Pasa? / Horace Silver Quintet 7:47
5	The Kicker / Horace Silver Quintet 5:26
6	Lonely Woman / Horace Silver Quintet 7:02
7	Sanctimonious Sam / Horace Silver Quintet Bonus Track 3:55
8	Que Pasa? / Horace Silver Quintet Bonus Track / Trio Version 5:38
9	Sighin' and Cryin' / Horace Silver Quintet Bonus Track 5:25
10	Silver Threads Among My Soul / Horace Silver Quintet Bonus Track 3:51

Barnes & Noble

1964 was a transitional year for jazz and a transitional year for Horace Silver. Hard bop and its child, soul jazz, slipped in between the ebbing of rock 'N' roll's first flowering and the arrival of The Beatles and achieved a mass popularity that jazz would not attain again. The party was over and, at the same time, Silver's five-year edition of his band (with Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook) was breaking up. The new front line consisted of trumpeter Carmell Jones and the great tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson and, in atypical fashion, Silver spent a year making this album -- some of it ("Calcutta Cutie") was even recorded with the old personnel. No matter; when it was finally released, it became Silver's most popular and successful album, largely due to its celebrated album-opening title track and partly due to its famous cover -- a photo of an elegant, straw-hatted Cape Verdean gentleman chewing a stubby cigar: Silver's father. Lee Jeske

All Music Guide

One of Blue Note's greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver's signature LP and the peak of a discography already studded with classics. Silver was always a master at balancing jumping rhythms with complex harmonies for a unique blend of earthiness and sophistication, and Song for My Father has perhaps the most sophisticated air of all his albums. Part of the reason is the faintly exotic tint that comes from Silver's flowering fascination with rhythms and modes from overseas -- the bossa nova beat of the classic "Song for My Father," for example, or the Eastern-flavored theme of "Calcutta Cutie," or the tropical-sounding rhythms of "Que Pasa?" Subtle touches like these alter Silver's core sound just enough to bring out its hidden class, which is why the album has become such a favorite source of upscale ambience. Song for My Father was actually far less focused in its origins than the typical Silver project; it dates from the period when Silver was disbanding his classic quintet and assembling a new group, and it features performances from both bands (and, on the CD reissue with bonus tracks, three different sessions). Still, it hangs together remarkably well, and Silver's writing is at its tightest and catchiest. The title cut became Silver's best-known composition, partly because it provided the musical basis for jazz-rock group Steely Dan's biggest pop hit "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." Another hard bop standard is introduced here in the lone non-Silver tune, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson's "The Kicker," covered often for the challenge of its stuttering phrases and intricate rhythms. Yet somehow it comes off as warm and inviting as the rest of the album, which is necessary for all jazz collections -- mainstream hard bop rarely comes as good as Song for My Father. Steve Huey