On the surface, Horace Silver’s “Serenade To A Soul Sister” is Blue Note’s most imaginative and funky pianist teaming up with fellow labelmate and soulful saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, to deliver some of the purest soul jazz cuts of the late 1960s. But taken together with his choice of players and his explanatory liner notes, “Serenade To A Soul Sister” clarifies just exactly what Horace Silver’s music is all about.

Having set the stage for the development of hard bop with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the 1950s, Silver and his ever-revolving quintet powered through the decade and into the 1960s, delivering a powerful run of acclaimed albums in the style he‘d helped create. But not one to rest on his laurels, he was soon reimagining his compositions, and including more folk and roots influences after inspiring trips to Japan and Brazil. Silver‘s mid-1960s albums “Song For My Father” and “The Cape Verdean Blues” landed on the Billboard charts and confirmed his reputation as a trailblazing pianist of the highest order, inventive and curious, whose music had a habit of bringing people together.

So as Silver was laying out the puzzle pieces before heading to Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs studio in the spring of 1968, he had some key decisions to make as to how “Serenade To A Soul Sister” would shape up.

The inclusion of trombonist J.J. Johnson on “The Cape Verdean Blues” had worked out exceptionally well, and Silver took the idea even further with Turrentine’s ‘special guest status’. But while Turrentine’s name featured prominently on the cover, his unmistakable tone was only there for half of the album, and Silver turned to a different line-up for the rest.

The more ‘out’ tenorman Bennie Maupin stepped up after previous appearances with Marion Brown and ended up joining Silver’s touring quintet. The rhythm section of bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Mickey Roker was switched up for Ron Carter protege John Williams and time-keeper Billy Cobham. The one constant was trumpeter Charles Tolliver, another component of the New Thing, shortly before he would co-found the influential Strata-East label.

“I personally do not believe in politics, hatred, or anger in my musician composition,” Silver writes in the liner notes. These insights also accompany comments on how Silver strives to convey emotion. It’s the closest we get to a Horace Silver manifesto, and “Serenade To A Soul Sister” captures it distinctly. Both sides are packed with soulful, positive energy, with an emphasis on the dancefloor. But the compositions also have unusual elements, like odd time signatures and strange harmonic references, such as the switches from 5 to 6 in “Jungle Juice”, or the mysterious, Monk-ish melodies in “Kindred Spirits”.

“Serenade To A Soul Sister” demonstrates Silver’s understanding of the power that music wields, and he concedes that it should be used for good. Life is tough enough already – in his mind, musicians have a responsibility to help shape a better society and project a hopeful future. While “Serenade To A Soul Sister” might not be as praised as much as some of Silver’s other masterpieces, it should rank as a key moment in his discography, as it displays Silver’s trademark minimal playing style and compositional approach, as well as his melodic creativity and his curiosity for folk music from around the world. Perhaps most importantly, it condenses Silver’s ideas about the role music should have in the world, as he began to lean deeper towards spirituality through the 1970s.

“Music composition should bring happiness and joy to people and make them forget their troubles, and perhaps in that joy and happiness, there might be strength to help them overcome them.”

Silver’s serenades aren’t just for soul sisters – they’re timeless insights that should resonate with everyone, even today.

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Max Cole is a writer and music enthusiast based in Düsseldorf, who has written for record labels and magazines such as Straight No Chaser, Kindred Spirits, Rush Hour, South of North, International Feel and the Red Bull Music Academy.

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_{Header image: Horace Silver performs at the Newport Jazz Festival held at Carnegie Hall, New York City on 29th June 1976. Photo: David Redfern/Redferns.}