Live at Newport '58
Encyclopedia
Live at Newport '58 is a live album
by jazz
pianist Horace Silver
. The album was recorded on July 6, 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival
. Blue Note Records
released the album in 2008. It is one of the few officially released live album
s with Silver as bandleader.
Producer Michael Cuscuna
discovered Silver's Newport performance while auditioning tapes at the Library of Congress
. He was able to locate a three-track master recording in Columbia Records
' archives, as Columbia producer George Avakian
had supervised the recording of the entire 1958 Newport Festival.
The personnel lineup that appears on this album was relatively short-lived. Junior Cook
and Louis Hayes
were the only two sidemen
remaining from the previous Harold Silver Quintet. Trumpeter Louis Smith
, who replaced Donald Byrd
, was with the group for only a short time before Blue Mitchell
replaced him, and this album presents Smith's only full performance with the group. However, critic Jeff Tamarkin
writes that "[Smith's] playing on this date is monstrous", and The Penguin Guide to Jazz
notes that "any thought that Smith was a stop-gap is blown away at once."
noted that "a lot of archive rediscoveries are just ticks in collectors' boxes. This one has real musical value and high excitement: iconic hard bop
."
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
. The album was recorded on July 6, 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
. Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
released the album in 2008. It is one of the few officially released live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
s with Silver as bandleader.
Producer Michael Cuscuna
Michael Cuscuna
Michael Cuscuna is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is a leading discographer of Blue Note Records....
discovered Silver's Newport performance while auditioning tapes at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. He was able to locate a three-track master recording in Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
' archives, as Columbia producer George Avakian
George Avakian
George Avakian is an American record producer and executive known particularly for his work with Columbia Records, and his production of albums by Miles Davis and other notable jazz musicians....
had supervised the recording of the entire 1958 Newport Festival.
The personnel lineup that appears on this album was relatively short-lived. Junior Cook
Junior Cook
Herman "Junior" Cook was a hard bop tenor saxophone player.-Biography:Cook was born in Pensacola, Florida. After playing with Dizzy Gillespie in 1958, Cook gained some fame for his longtime membership in the Horace Silver Quintet ; when he and Blue Mitchell left that band, Cook played in...
and Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...
were the only two sidemen
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
remaining from the previous Harold Silver Quintet. Trumpeter Louis Smith
Louis Smith (musician)
Louis Smith is an American jazz trumpeter.While studying at the University of Michigan, he played with visiting musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thad Jones and Billy Mitchell, before going on to play with Sonny Stitt, Count Basie and Al McKibbon, Cannonball Adderley, Percy Heath,...
, who replaced Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
, was with the group for only a short time before Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell
Richard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
replaced him, and this album presents Smith's only full performance with the group. However, critic Jeff Tamarkin
Jeff Tamarkin
Jeff Tamarkin is an American editor, author and historian specializing in music and popular culture.-Career:For 15 years Tamarkin was editor of Goldmine, a magazine for record and CD collectors. Prior to that, he served as the first editor of CMJ and as editor of Relix...
writes that "[Smith's] playing on this date is monstrous", and The Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which are currently available in Europe or the United States...
notes that "any thought that Smith was a stop-gap is blown away at once."
Reception
The Penguin Guide to JazzThe Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which are currently available in Europe or the United States...
noted that "a lot of archive rediscoveries are just ticks in collectors' boxes. This one has real musical value and high excitement: iconic hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
."
Track listing
Personnel
- Junior Cook – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Louis Hayes – drums
- Horace Silver – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Louis Smith – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Gene TaylorGene Taylor (bassist)Calvin Eugene Taylor, professionally known as Gene Taylor , was an American jazz double bassist. He was born in Toledo, Ohio and began his career in Detroit, Michigan. Taylor worked with Horace Silver from 1958 until 1963. He then joined Blue Mitchell's quintet, with whom he recorded and performed...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...