Peace (Horace Silver song)
| "Peace" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Horace Silver | |
| from the album Blowin' the Blues Away | |
| Recorded | August 29, 1959 |
| Studio | Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Label | Blue Note |
| Songwriter(s) | Horace Silver |
| Producer(s) | Alfred Lion |
"Peace" is a composition by Horace Silver that was first recorded on August 29, 1959. It has become a jazz standard.[1][2] Silver also wrote lyrics for the tune.[3]
Composition
According to Silver, "I was doodlin' around on the piano, and it just came to me, but I also had the impression that there was an angel standing over me, impressing my mind with this beautiful melody and harmony."[4] Unusually for popular Silver compositions, "Peace" is a slow ballad.[3] It has a ten-bar structure.[2] Ted Gioia observed that "You won't find a single catchy melodic motif here, no surprising interlude, no harmonic shift that takes the piece in an unexpected direction. Instead the soloist cycles through a series of gentle resolving chords, mostly following a familiar ii-V formula, before settling unobtrusively into the tonic key of B flat."[2]
Original recording and release
The piece was first recorded on August 29, 1959, by the Horace Silver Quintet consisting of Silver (piano), Junior Cook (tenor saxophone), Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Gene Taylor (bass), and Louis Hayes (drums).[1][2] It was released on the Blue Note album Blowin' the Blues Away.[2]
Other versions
"Peace has regularly attracted younger musicians".[3] Silver recorded a version with vocals by Andy Bey on That Healin' Feelin' a decade after the original recording.[5]
- Chet Baker – Peace (Enja, 1982)
- Ravi Coltrane – Moving Pictures (RCA/BMG, 1998)
- Tommy Flanagan – Something Borrowed, Something Blue (Galaxy, 1978)
- Chico Freeman – Spirit Sensitive (India Navigation, 1979)[2]
- Billy Higgins – The Soldier (Timeless, 1981)
- Norah Jones – Day Breaks (Blue Note, 2016)
- Norah Jones – First Sessions (Blue Note, 2001)
- Bobby McFerrin – Bobby McFerrin (Elektra/Nonesuch, 1982)[2]
- Blue Mitchell – Smooth as the Wind (Riverside, 1961) and The Last Tango = Blues (Mainstream, 1973)
- Dave Palmer – Romance (Three Crows Music, 2006)
- Horace Parlan – The Maestro (SteepleChase, 1979)
- Courtney Pine – Journey to the Urge Within (Verve, 1986)
- Shirley Scott – Skylark (Candid, 1991)
- Gary Thomas – Till We Have Faces (JMT, 1992)
Bibliography
- Silver, Horace (2006). Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25392-6.
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References
- ^ a b Huey, Steve "Horace Silver / Horace Silver Quintet – Blowin' the Blues Away". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 331–332. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
- ^ a b c Atkins, Ronald (June 19, 2014). "Horace Silver Obituary". The Guardian.
- ^ Silver 2006, p. 166.
- ^ Silver 2006, p. 191.