JAZZ REVIEW : Horace Silver Shining Anew

Pianist-composer Horace Silver has been a stellar participant in the modern jazz arena since the early ‘50s, when he emerged as one of the more potent improvisers and writers of bluesy and funky hard bop.

But in recent years, the edge and originality that marked his early playing and that one found in compositions like “Nica’s Dream,” “Quicksilver” and “St. Vitus Dance” has gradually diminished. Today’s Silver is more melodic, less hard-hitting. It’s a change some will like, some won’t.

Opening a two-week stand Tuesday at Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood, Silver led a sextet of New York-based musicians through a set of mostly new tunes, with a couple of older vehicles, one the classic “Senor Blues,” tossed in for good measure.

And while “The Righteous Rhumba,” “Hallelujah to Ya!” and “Mr. Blakey” had nice enough melodies, were orchestrated for the horns in deft Silver fashion and usually had varying sections, ultimately they sounded like so many other Silver tunes that it was hard to tell them apart. The late-’50s “Senor Blues” or the jackrabbit-paced “Nutville” (from the mid-’60s “The Cape Verdean Blues” Blue Note LP) had more character, perhaps simply because they have stood the test of time.

Overall, Silver and crew--Mike Mossman, trumpet; Ralph Bowen, tenor sax; James Genus, bass; Billy Drummond, drums--were sharp as tacks, playing the often involved melody lines from memory and soloing with elan, particularly Bowen, a fluent, inventive improviser. The leader worked with his usual firm energy, his lines marked by a keen sense of rhythm and blues phrasing.

Also, the empathy and dynamics Silver, Genus and Drummond, a fire stoker if there ever was one, exhibited behind the hornmen and as a trio were exhilarating.

Singer Andy Bey joined the band for four tunes, and his voice--resonant and vibrant on the bottom but a bit pinched up top--served Silver’s metaphysically bent lyrics well. But a stronger selection of songs, perhaps drawing on the still-wearing-well Silver library of comely originals, is needed to make the band come alive.

Silver is at Catalina’s through July 16, with Monday off.