Horace Silver - Complete Sessions with Art Blakey (Bonus Track Version) (2016)

This Spanish import brings together the first three sessions pianist Horace Silver recorded for Blue Note in 1952 and 1953, which subsequently became the pioneering sessions in the hard bop movement. All three sessions feature drummer Art Blakey, but there are three different bassists: Gene Ramey on the October 9, 1952, session; Curly Russell on the October 20, 1952, session; and Percy Heath on November 23, 1953. As an added attraction on the final selection, "Message from Kenya" by Blakey, percussionist Sabú Martinez adds fire and brimstone to the already intense mix. These 16 tracks are not only historical curiosities; they reveal that at the age of 23, Silver was already in full command of his mature style of playing albeit being a little less funky than in the later '50s and as an arranger as well. One need only to cue up the early takes of "Quicksilver" or "Opus de Funk," or even Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss," to hear Silver's wildly original rhythmic ideas on both hands. This is an essential and well-priced compilation with fine sound.