Personnel:
Paul Horn (as, fl, cl), Emil Richards (vib), Paul Moer (p), Jimmy Bond, Bill Plummer, Victor Gaskin (b), Billy Higgins, Milt Turner (d)
Reference: FSRCD1169
Bar code: 8427328611695
· Three complete albums on two CDs
· DeLuxe 6 panel Digipack Edition
· Excellent Stereo Sound Quality
· 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
· 16-Page illustrated booklet with extensive notes
Few jazz ensembles captured the adventurous spirit of the turn from the late ’50s into the early ’60s quite like the Paul Horn Quintet—the first organized combo after Miles Davis’ to explore modal frameworks for both composition and improvisation.
An alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music and a former member of Chico Hamilton's Quintet, Horn by 1959 had already established himself as a master of multiple woodwinds. With this group he revealed not only his virtuosity as a soloist, but also the depth of his imagination as a composer, eager to expand the possibilities of form, time, and harmony—an impulse clearly touched by Davis’ forward-looking approach.
The three albums gathered in this collection trace that journey: from the blues-inflected sophistication of Something Blue, through the personal statements of Mirage and Blue on Blue on The Sound of Paul Horn, to the freer explorations of Profile of a Jazz Musician. On flute, Horn’s warm tone and impeccable control shine; on alto, his Coltrane-tinged lines push toward intensity and risk; and on clarinet—heard only on Something Blue—his sound is strikingly pure. Around him stood musicians of equal imagination. Vibraphonist Emil Richards developed a language uniquely his own, far from imitation; pianist Paul Moer contributed not only compositions but also a restless, driving swing; bassists Jimmy Bond and Victor Gaskin gave the music its anchor; and the drummers—
Billy Higgins, announcing himself as a new voice in 1959, and later Milt Turner—propelled the music with energy and invention.
Taken together, these recordings capture a group in full flight: inventive, cohesive, and endlessly rewarding. Or, as Miles Davis once put it with admiration: “Watch out for Paul!”
—Jordi Pujol
