Lee Morgan – Candy (1957)

“Lee Morgan’s freshman years in the recording studio were very prolific. Candy, recorded at the end of 1957 and the start of 1958, was his seventh album and it only took roughly one year to record those seven albums. This period represented a rapid evolution of Morgan’s style. It’s delightful to hear Morgan incorporate his influences into his bag in such an eloquent way on Candy. 1958 would be busy as well. At the end of that year Morgan had joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. One might safely say that in his years with Blakey (1958-61) Morgan was not only putting the finishing touches to his style, but rapidly evolving into a full-fledged trumpet superstar. The overall mood of Candy is relatively lighthearted, joyful and swinging. Morgan didn’t contribute any writing for this album; his focal point was to interpret a set of standards. The title track, fired up by some stimulating press rolls by drummer Art Taylor, is a catchy tune in which Morgan shows what a storyteller he already is. The sound of the horn that Van Gelder creates at his studio in Hackensack, New Jersey is ‘spacey’ and simply majestic and makes Morgan’s statements all the more imposing. Give it a listen with headphones on and it’ll be pointed out to you what Van Gelder was capable of. It succeeds to arouse my spirits even after nearly two decades of listening to the recording. …”
Flophouse (Audio)
LondonJazzCollector (Audio)
W – Candy
Discogs (Video)
YouTube: Candy 1 / 7

Horace Silver – Further Explorations (1958)

“A quick scan of the main quintet  line-ups during the Blue Note years fixes Further Explorations to the 1958 front line where Farmer stepped in to replace Donald Byrd and Clifford Jordan briefly replaced Hank Mobley.  It was a short-lived quintet as the following year Horace set up his long-term front line of Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook. … January 1958. I find this Horace title a mixed bag. The title is something of a misnomer, as I was expecting something Further Out when what it delivers a good  second helping of what came before. Putting things in context, it was recorded second week in January 1958. That’s almost 1957 in old money. Perhaps from that vantage point it had a more experimental approach to  bar structure, elements of latin rhythms, and other references that were novel in 1950’s bop. Further Explorations has some of my favourite Horace tracks, and some I confess I don’t warm to. …”
LondonJazzCollector (Audio)
W – Further Explorations
Flophouse Magazine (Audio)
Discogs (Video)