Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers

Recording

One of the most successful tunes from the album, "The Preacher", was almost rejected for recording by producer Alfred Lion, who thought it was "too old-timey", but reinstated at the insistence of Blakey and Silver, who threatened to cancel the session until he had written another tune to record in its place if it wasn’t included.^[1] According to Silver, the track showed that the band could "reach way back and get that old time, gutbucket barroom feeling with just a taste of the back-beat".^[2]

Release

Originally released as an LP, the album has subsequently been reissued on CD several times.

Style and legacy

The music on the album mixes bebop influences with blues and gospel feels.^{[citation needed]}

These recordings helped establish the hard bop style.^{[citation needed]}

These were the first sessions in which he used the quintet format which he would largely use for the rest of his career.^{[citation needed]}

Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers – BLP 1518

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 3 – BLP 5058

Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 4 – BLP 5062

Horace Silver Quintet

• Horace Silver – piano
• Kenny Dorham – trumpet
• Hank Mobley – tenor saxophone
• Doug Watkins – bass
• Art Blakey – drums

Technical personnel

• Alfred Lion – production
• Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer
• Reid Miles – design
• Francis Wolff – photography