June 1977 (The Livelove Series, Vol. 2) is a live album by the Horace Silver Quintet, recorded from an open-air concert in the Market Square of Bremen (Bremer Marktplatz), Germany, and broadcast live by Radio Bremen, on June 28, 1977. It was released by Promising Music in 2014.
Featuring music drawn from Silver's In Pursuit of the 27th Man (1973), Silver 'n Brass (1975), and Silver 'n Voices (1976), plus his well-known standard "Song for My Father", the album's line-up consists of trumpeter Tom Harrell, tenor saxophonist Larry Schneider, bassist Chip Jackson, and drummer Eddie Gladden.
Reception All About Jazz wrote, "With most of the song lengths topping the ten-minute mark the band gets plenty of space to stretch out, which they take full advantage of. [...] Probably the most striking thing about this recording is how vibrant it sounds. Silver's music was full of life, and he makes 1977 sound like it could be tomorrow."
Brian Zimmerman of DownBeat magazine stated, "The soulful post-bop pianist’s melodic phrases permeate the album, both in his tastefully rendered background comping and in his sparse, vocal-like solo motifs. [...] Silver’s accompanying musicians match his intensity".
The Observer's Dave Gelly commented, "They are all very good but, with the exception of trumpeter Tom Harrell, every phrase they play has 1977 stamped on it, whereas the themes and the piano-playing bear the Silver hallmark of true originality. A mixture of yearning romantic and slightly hyperactive joker, his musical personality was all his own and fashion had nothing to do with it."
Roy Carr for Jazzwise wrote, " though this was Silver's cosmic era, his compositions still followed the curvature of his much earlier trend-setting Blue Note recordings as did the retention of a trumpet / tenor sax front line."
Track listing
Recorded live at The Market Place (Bremer Marktplatz), Bremen, Germany, on June 28, 1977
Personnel Musicians
Horace Silver – piano, poetry Tom Harrell – trumpet, flugelhorn Larry Schneider – tenor saxophone Chip Jackson – double bass, bass guitar Eddie Gladden – drums
Technical
Peter Schulze (Radio Bremen) – producer, recording engineer, liner notes Volker Steppat – concert producer Dietram Köster – recording engineer Jürgen Kuntze, Klaus Schumann – recording technician Eberhard Schnellen – mastering Michael Summ – remastering engineer Consul Bodo Jacoby – liner notes Nobuhisa Nakanishi – text transcription Jürgen Schwab – cover design
References