Horace Silver
Piano Solo on
Quicksilver

About

Horace Silver's piano solo is the 3rd of 5 on this recording, spanning two choruses at approximately 317 BPM. Set within a swinging rhythmic framework, the 64-bar AABA form and the key of A♭, the solo tests the player's command at high velocity. The tune borrows its harmonic structure from "Lover, Come Back to Me," a set of changes that generations of improvisers have used as a testing ground for new ideas. Positioned between Clifford Brown and Curly Russell, Silver bridges the conversation between the two. "Quicksilver" (Alternate Take) from A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 is a second look at Horace Silver's contrafact on "Lover, Come Back to Me," performed live by the Art Blakey Quintet in 1954.

Horace Silver was 25 to 26 years old at the time.