Saxophonist Gary Foster sent a link to video from a Facebook post of a seldom seen or heard performance by Horace Silver (pictured). At the 1964 Antibes Jazz Festival in Juan les Pins, France, Silver played a new composition with the latest edition of his quintet. The band was Silver, piano; Carmell Jones, trumpet; Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone; Teddy Smith, bass; and Roger Humphries, drums. The piece was “Pretty Eyes.” This is a rare instance of Jones’s work with Silver.
Horace Silver 5tet – Pretty Eyes [1964]
Festival de jazz d'Antibes – Juan les Pins – France – 28.07.1964Horace Silver – PianoJoe Henderson – Tenor SaxophoneCarmell Jones – TrumpetTeddy Smith – Bass Roger Humphries – Drums
Posted by Kevin Johnson Page II on Wednesday, November 12, 2014
The next year, Silver recorded “Pretty Eyes” in his Cape Verdean Blues album with Woody Shaw replacing Carmell Jones. It has since become one of the Silver compositions most frequently played by musicians around the world.