Josephine Davies The Celtic Wheel Of The Year Suite

The first classic album by the Horace Silver Quintet, this set is highlighted by "Señor Blues" and "Cool Eyes." The early Silver quintet of 1956 was essentially the Jazz Messengers of the year before, with trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, and bassist Doug Watkins (while drummer Louis Hayes was in Blakey's place), but already the band was starting to develop a sound of its own. "Señor Blues" officially put Horace Silver on the map, and the album is a hard bop and gospel-tinged jazz gem. This reissue add bonus tracks, including two additional versions of "Señor Blues," including a later vocal rendition by Bill Henderson.

This is the best record of the year and Minott is the best male vocalist of the decade. The Jolly Boys deserve a best vocalist Grammy, best cover song Grammy, best album Grammy, best all around Grammy and those who value solid music with raw power and hair-raising soulfulness deserve to honor their ears with this one. The Jolly Boys take some great songs on here and make them better as they own them, and they elevate some other mediocre pop songs (that until the Jolly Boys got hold of them were just whiny lyrics and plasticine substance around bubble gum basics) into the bluesy phenomenal stratosphere of hair-raising profound expressions of old school realism.