Serenade for Horace is an album by the jazz drummer Louis Hayes, released in 2017.[2][3] It is a tribute to Horace Silver, Hayes's former bandleader.[4][5]

Serenade for Horace
Studio album by
Released2017
GenreJazz
LabelBlue Note[1]
ProducerDon Was, Dezron Douglas
Louis Hayes chronology
Return of the Jazz Communicators
(2014)
Serenade for Horace
(2017)

The album peaked at No. 23 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart.[6]

Production edit

The album was produced by Don Was and Dezron Douglas.[4] Gregory Porter contributed vocals to "Song for My Father".[7][8] "Hastings Street", about Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood, is the only song penned by Hayes.[9]

Critical reception edit

The New York Times wrote that the album "finds Hayes swinging briskly as he revisits the tunes he played in the early years, when he helped define the classic hard-bop sound."[10] DownBeat noted that "some of the album’s best playing ... can be found on the heads, thanks to arrangements that treat the rhythm parts as though they were as integral as the melody—which, of course, they are."[11]

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opined that Hayes "gathers up a fine bunch of musicians to buttress his rhythmic tribute to and interpretation of Horace Silver."[12] The Buffalo News panned the album, concluding that "the best thing about this disc, by far, are Hayes' personal and wonderful notes."[13]

Track listing edit

  1. Ecaroh
  2. Señor Blues
  3. Song for My Father
  4. Hastings Street
  5. Strollin’
  6. Juicy Lucy
  7. Silver’s Serenade
  8. Lonely Woman
  9. Summer in Central Park
  10. St. Vitus Dance
  11. Room 608

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Louis Hayes Celebrates His 80th Birthday In A Packed Jazz Club". NPR.
  2. ^ "Louis Hayes Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "Louis Hayes". The New Yorker.
  4. ^ a b Sachs, Lloyd. "Louis Hayes: Serenade for Horace (Blue Note)". JazzTimes.
  5. ^ Lowenthal, Kevin (30 Dec 2018). "Jazz & Blues". The Boston Globe. p. N2.
  6. ^ "Louis Hayes". Billboard.
  7. ^ Nowlin, Rick (7 Dec 2017). "DRUMMER LOUIS HAYES PAYS TRIBUTE TO HORACE SILVER". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. W9.
  8. ^ Varga, George (June 20, 2017). "SDSU alum Gregory Porter sings on star-studded charity single for London fire victims". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Music.
  9. ^ Moore, John Frederick (Fall 2017). "Pocketful of Silver". Jazziz: 26.
  10. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (9 Aug 2019). "Jazz: He Plays Hard-Bop". The New York Times. p. C20.
  11. ^ "DownBeat Reviews". downbeat.com.
  12. ^ Gilbertson, John M. (May 26, 2017). "Louis Hayes, 'Serenade for Horace'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. C4.
  13. ^ Simon, Jeff. "Louis Hayes' tribute to Horace Silver falls short musically". Buffalo News.