‘Song For My Father’, by The Horace Silver Quintet
One of Blue Note’s greatest mainstream hard bop dates, ‘Song for My Father’ is Horace Silver’s signature album 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.
The title cut, a bossa nova in F-minor, 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’, while the opening horn riff was borrowed by Stevie Wonder for his song ‘Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing’. Earth Wind & Fire also borrowed the opening bass notes for their song ‘Clover’.
This song is really for my father, who will celebrate his 69th birthday tomorrow. Love dad!
Carmell Jones - Trumpet
Joe Henderson - Tenor Saxophone
Horace Silver - Piano
Teddy Smith - Bass
Roger Humphries - Drums
