Cool Eyes - Horace Silver Quintet 1958 video free download

Cool Eyes Silver Horace Quintet 1958

Groovy? Funky? Cool or what?

The enormously popular Horace Silver Quintet play their signature tune, "Cool Eyes" during a 1959 broadcast for the Dutch KRO Company (KRO stands for Catholic Radio Broadcaster). These broadcasts were usually done during the day in a theater close to Hilversum, the Dutch radio and TV town. I vaguely remember that the public during these radio- and TV performances was usually invited and tickets were free. When one looks at this audience there is very little that would inspire any musician and maybe that is why the band had their backs towards that audience.

The music played is certainly inspired, well recorded and with great close-ups of the musicians.

Pianist Horace Silver together with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Tailor and drummer Louis Hayes play their new style of hard bop with great flair and skill. The instrumentation of his quintet (trumpet, tenor sax, piano, double bass, and drums) served as a model for small jazz groups from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s.