Horace Silver - Doin' The Thing

Doin' the Thing is a live album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1961 featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Roy Brooks recorded at the Village Gate in New York City.

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars and states "This live set finds pianist/composer Horace Silver and his most acclaimed quintet stretching out". The All About Jazz review of the CD rerelease by Hrayr Attarian called the album "especially unique, not only because of its quality, but because it is the only live recording of his most famous quintet. Although it was recorded 45 years ago (1961), this CD has the power to transport one back in time to the smoky room at Village Gate where one feels the raw energy of the live performance"

Horace Silver-The Jody Grind(1966)

Following the subtly modern bent of much of The Cape Verdean Blues, Horace Silver recommitted himself to his trademark "funky jazz" sound on The Jody Grind. Yet he also consciously chose to keep a superbly advanced front line, with players like trumpeter Woody Shaw (retained from the Cape Verdean session), altoist/flutist James Spaulding, and tenor saxophonist Tyrone Washington. Thus, of all Silver's groove-centered records, The Jody Grind winds up as possibly the most challenging. It's also one of the most underappreciated; Silver's piano playing is at its rhythmic, funky best throughout, brimming over with confidence and good cheer, and evoking memories of the classic feel of his early-'60s quintet. His compositions have a similarly bright overtone, which (as the liner notes allude to) was becoming increasingly rare in mid-'60s jazz as the fury of the avant-garde and the Civil Rights upheaval began to seep into jazz's wider consciousness. The title cut is a playful, overlooked classic on the funky side of hard bop; Silver kicks it with a tasty groove, giving the rest of the musicians plenty to play off of. The whole group absolutely burns through &"Grease Piece," a terrific hard swinger full of smoking solo statements from just about everyone on down to drum whiz Roger Humphries. Really, the whole album is packed with great grooves and tight solos, epitomizing the best virtues of Silver's music. For those who have digested classics like Song for My Father, Blowin' the Blues Away, and Finger Poppin', The Jody Grind is one of the best places to go next.