The Cape Verdean Blues (180g LP)

Horace Silver Quintet
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Silver's Blue
6 Pieces of Silver
Horace Silver Trio, Vol. 1: Spotlight on Drums
The Stylings of Silver
Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet
Blowin' the Blues Away
Finger Poppin' with the Horace Silver Quintet
Horace-Scope
Doin' the Thing (At the Village Gate)
The Tokyo Blues
Silver's Serenade
Song for My Father
The Cape Verdean Blues
The Jody Grind
Serenade to a Soul Sister
You Gotta Take a Little Love
In Pursuit of the 27th Man
All (Phase III)
Silver 'n Brass
It's Got to Be Funky
Pencil Packin' Papa
The Hard Bop Grandpop
A Prescription for the Blues
Jazz Has a Sense of Humor
Rockin' with Rachmaninoff
Live at Newport '58

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Release Date 1965
Duration
43:43
Genre
Jazz
Styles
Hard Bop
Soul Jazz
Jazz Instrument
Piano Jazz
Recording Date
October 1, 1965 & October 22, 1965
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Album Moods
Amiable/Good-Natured
Earthy
Elegant
Freewheeling
Fun
Humorous
Playful
Refined
Rollicking
Sensual
Cheerful
Joyous
Organic
Stylish
Horace Silver
The Cape Verdean Blues

AllMusic Rating
8
User Ratings (45)
Your Rating

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Review by Steve Huey [-]

After the success of Song for My Father and its hit title cut, Horace Silver was moved to pay further tribute to his dad, not to mention connect with some of his roots. Silver's father was born in the island nation of Cape Verde (near West Africa) before emigrating to the United States, and that's the inspiration behind The Cape Verdean Blues. Not all of the tracks are directly influenced by the music of Cape Verde (though some do incorporate Silver's taste for light exoticism); however, there's a spirit of adventure that pervades the entire album, a sense of exploration that wouldn't have been quite the same with Silver's quintet of old. On average, the tracks are longer than usual, and the lineup -- featuring tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson (a holdover from the Song for My Father sessions) and trumpeter Woody Shaw -- is one of the most modernist-leaning Silver ever recorded with. They push Silver into more advanced territory than he was normally accustomed to working, with mild dissonances and (especially in Henderson's case) a rawer edge to the playing. What's more, bop trombone legend J.J. Johnson appears on half of the six tracks, and Silver sounds excited to finally work with a collaborator he'd been pursuing for some time. Johnson ably handles some of the album's most challenging material, like the moody, swelling "Bonita" and the complex, up-tempo rhythms of "Nutville." Most interesting, though, is the lilting title track, which conjures the flavor of the islands with a blend of Latin-tinged rhythms and calypso melodies that nonetheless don't sound quite Caribbean in origin. Also noteworthy are "The African Queen," with its blend of emotional power and drifting hints of freedom, and "Pretty Eyes," Silver's first original waltz. Yet another worthwhile Silver album. - AllMusic