JAZZ REVIEW : Horace Silver’s New Group Loyal to the Traditions

The group Horace Silver presented at Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood, cast in the same mold as its many predecessors, is loyal to the traditions of hard bop and funk that have always been his hallmarks.

Ever since he organized his first quintet in 1956, Silver has maintained a threefold reputation as a composer and pianist with a powerfully individual personality, and as the talent scout who has hired a succession of promising sidemen, many of whom went on to pursue careers of their own.

Two of the present members, Michael Mossman on trumpet and the Canadian tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen, constitute a typical front line, bringing the unit’s perennially tight blend to the ensembles and a vital fluency to the solos. Mossman is particularly impressive when he ventures into the horn’s upper register.

Most of the opening set Tuesday was devoted to excerpts from an extended work in progress, one that Silver says will entail the use of singers and choreography. Of the three tunes played, one was the title number, “Rockin’ With Rachmaninoff”; another was “Satchmo’s Song,” supposedly for Louis Armstrong. In neither case was the relevance clear. The latter piece was in waltz time and employed a flute--two devices Armstrong never used.

It would seem advisable to withhold judgment on the overall impact of this work. However, the third number, “Righteous Rhumba,” was a typically charming example of Silver’s melodic ingenuity.

At the piano he was in characteristically facile form, weaving tense left-hand punctuations against fast single-note lines, with a slightly excessive use of quotes. There were snatches of “Work Song” and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” during his solo on “Tokyo Blues,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing” in the Rachmaninoff opus. Even “Righteous Rhumba” borrowed at one point from “Rockin’ in Rhythm.”

Silver’s holistic concerns were reflected in the title of “Music to Ease Your Disease,” an extended blues waltz, guaranteed at least to provide easy listening if not remedy the incurable. Completing the group were Yoron Israel on drums and Clarence Seay on bass. If less than world-shaking soloists, they are reliable rhythm functionaries in a fivesome that generally lives up to Silver’s reputation as a purveyor of sounds both idiosyncratic and accessible. The group closes Sunday.