Home » Jazz Articles » My Blue Note Obsession » Horace Silver: Horace Silver: Serenade to a Soul Sister - 1968

Horace Silver: Horace Silver: Serenade to a Soul Sister - 1968

By Marc Davis
July 18, 2016
View read count

Serenade to a Soul Sister is an album that is very much of its time�Ca mix of ��60s funk and ��50s bop.

Is it possible to love an album for just one song? I think I do.

Serenade to a Soul Sister is the happy marriage of jazz's funkiest pianist (

Horace Silver

piano
1928 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver) with its most soulful saxman (

Stanley Turrentine

saxophone, tenor
1934 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Stanley Turrentine). Throw in a fabulously underrated trumpeter with a big fat tone (

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Tolliver) and you've got one of the best soul-jazz classics of the 1960s.

Serenade features six original compositions by Silver, and every one is a gem. One, however, is shinier than the rest. The album's opener, "Psychedelic Sally," is one of the catchiest, most joyful jazz tunes ever recorded.

Start with a propulsive bass line, as every good funk tune should. Add a happy theme stated by the horns in tandem. Throw in a positively bluesy sax solo, then a powerful trumpet turn, and finally the ever-reliable Silver doing his best juke-joint piano solo. The result is a recording that is every bit as soulful and rockin' as anything ever put to vinyl in the late 1960s. This is a happy, up-tempo, rollicking seven-minute classic.

The rest of Serenade is plenty good—a truly happy, upbeat record—just not up to the standard of the opening cut.

The first three tunes, including "Psychedelic Sally," feature a quintet with Silver, Turrentine and Tolliver. These are bluesy, funky numbers. The last three tunes feature a different quintet, replacing Turrentine with

Bennie Maupin

woodwinds
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Bennie Maupin, plus a new bassman and drummer. It's a different feel. Maupin seems more boppish and less funky than Turrentine—not a bad thing, just different.

The result is an album that is very much of its time—a mix of '60s funk and '50s bop. The whole thing ends with a piano trio ballad called "Next Time I Fall in Love." It's all very nice. But "Psychedelic Sally" is the tune you came for, and I don't mind listening to it over and over again.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Easy to find

Cost: Under $4 used

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Sunday Night At The Vanguard
< Previous

As it Was
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.