One of the most coveted jazz LP's in my record collection has got to be Horace Silver's 1966 album The Jody Grind. I scored it in the 80's from a serious jazz head who I learned quite a bit about a world of music I knew little about at the time.
The first time I heard this record I was hooked. It was funky and expansive. Familiar in structure but strange. Take this one for example. It sounds as if it's a straight 12 bar blues but then throws in some curveballs, shaking up the way flow and making it jump in a new way.
A lot of people called Horace one of the hippest cats in music ever. He surely was. And he always had the hippest in his band too. I mean, for starters he has the one and only Roger Humphries on drums here. Add Larry Ridley on bass and Woody Shaw & Tyrone Washington (who is considered a bit of mystery man as he played on just a few records and pretty much disappeared since) on the horns and you've got something that really cooks.
For some reason, the album has not been included in the recent reissue campaigns of Blue Note releases, making it an spendy find. It's one that more people should hear.
What are you listening to tonight?
