Serenade to a Soul Sister

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Serenade to a Soul Sister
Studio album by
ReleasedEarly June 1968[1]
RecordedFebruary 23 and March 29, 1968
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs
GenreJazz
Length37:54
LabelBlue Note
BST 84277
ProducerFrancis Wolff
Horace Silver chronology
The Jody Grind
(1966)
Serenade to a Soul Sister
(1968)
You Gotta Take a Little Love
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[4]

Serenade to a Soul Sister is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1968, featuring performances by Silver with Charles Tolliver, Stanley Turrentine, Bennie Maupin, Bob Cranshaw, John Williams, Mickey Roker and Billy Cobham.[5]

The album was re-mastered, for the CD release in the 24-bit series, by Rudy Van Gelder, in 2004.[6]

Silver's guidelines to musical composition[edit]

The album's liner notes include Silver's guidelines to musical composition:

a. Melodic Beauty
b. Meaningful Simplicity
c. Harmonic Beauty
d. Rhythm
e. Environmental, Hereditary, Regional, and Spiritual Influences[7][8]

Reception[edit]

AllMusic writer Steve Huey awarded the album 4½ stars and stated:

"One of the last great Horace Silver albums for Blue Note, Serenade to a Soul Sister is also one of the pianist's most infectiously cheerful, good-humored outings... You'd never know this album was recorded in one of the most tumultuous years in American history, but as Silver says in the liner notes' indirect jab at the avant-garde, he simply didn't believe in allowing "politics, hatred, or anger" into his music. Whether you agree with that philosophy or not, it's hard to argue with musical results as joyous and tightly performed as Serenade to a Soul Sister."[2]

Track listing[edit]

All compositions by Horace Silver.

  1. "Psychedelic Sally" – 7:14
  2. "Serenade to a Soul Sister" – 6:19
  3. "Rain Dance" – 6:21
  4. "Jungle Juice" – 6:46
  5. "Kindred Spirits" – 5:55
  6. "Next Time I Fall in Love" – 5:19

Personnel[edit]

Musicians[edit]

on tracks 1 – 3 (February 23, 1968)

on tracks 4 – 6 (March 29, 1968)

Production[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Billboard June 1, 1968
  2. ^ a b Huey, S.AllMusic Review accessed November 23, 2009.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1299. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
  4. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 181. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  5. ^ Horace Silver discography accessed November 23, 2009.
  6. ^ "The Horace Silver Quintet Featuring Stanley Turrentine – Serenade to a Soul Sister (2004, Paper Sleeve, CD)". Discogs.
  7. ^ Rosenthal, David H. (1993-09-09). Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music 1955-1965. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-535899-5.
  8. ^ Kirchner, Bill (2005-07-14). The Oxford Companion to Jazz. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-19-518359-7.