HORACE SILVER- “BLUE SILVER”
“Blue Silver” is from the Horace Silver record JODY GRIND which features Silver on piano along with Woody Shaw on trumpet, tenor saxophonist Tyrone Washington, James Spaulding on alto sax and flute, Larry Ridley playing bass and drummer Roger Humphries. “Blue Silver” opens up with a four measure introductory passage. the three horns, voiced in fourths, are answered by the rhythm section’s unison line. the horns then play pentatonic figures over a moving harmony, following with a bluesy shout answered by rhythm section hits. the mood and feel changes in the next section as the horns play a pretty, very Silverish melodic line that starts in the key of Ab minor then moves on to Eb minor. the horns play another line, shaped similarly, but in the key of G major, which is followed by another line, also shaped like the others, that leads back to the opening passage. Silver plays the song’s only solo, blowing over the whole form of the song in his one- of- a- kind, spare, bluesy style. “Blue Silver” is a great song from really good record that i wasn’t familiar with until recently. i decided upon hearing it to sketch it out. some of the horn lines are difficult to pick out but i think it’s pretty close. below is a lead sheet and a transcription of the top line of his two chorus solo…
HORACE SILVER- BLUE SILVER (mp3)
Tags: HORACE SILVER, LEAD SHEET, TRANSCRIPTION
