"Split Kick" is a hard bop instrumental composed by Horace Silver, dating from the early 1950s during his tenure touring and recording with Stan Getz. The tune is a contrafact, with its solo changes based on the chord progression of "There Will Never Be Another You." Silver's original melody rides over a distinctive sectional structure that opens with a Latin-tinged intro before shifting into swinging sections with breaks, giving the piece a rhythmic vitality and percussive drive characteristic of his writing. The composition reflects Silver's approach to small-group jazz, emphasizing tight, rehearsed arrangements and soulful, bluesy phrasing over loose blowing sessions. Stan Getz made the first recording of the tune in 1954, during a period when Silver contributed several compositions to the saxophonist's repertoire, including "Potter's Luck" and "Penny." The most celebrated recording is by the Art Blakey Quintet, captured live in July 1954 for A Night at Birdland Vol. 1, featuring Lou Donaldson on alto saxophone, Clifford Brown on trumpet, Silver on piano, and Blakey on drums. Paul Bley also recorded it in 1954 with Charles Mingus and Art Blakey. Later recordings include versions by Jazz Group de Bretagne (1978), Cedar Walton Sextet (1997), and Ronnie Cuber and Gary Smulyan (2021). In Silver's body of work, "Split Kick" represents an early step toward the iconic hard bop compositions that followed, such as "The Preacher" and "Sister Sadie," though it remains more of a deep cut than a widely performed standard.
