"Señor Blues" is a composition by

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

. The original version, an instrumental by Silver's quintet, was recorded on November 10, 1956. It has become a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

. Silver later wrote lyrics, which were first recorded by Silver's band with Bill Henderson singing in 1958. Mark Murphy recorded another vocal version on his 1962 Riverside album '' That's How I Love the Blues!''

Composition

"'Señor Blues' is a 12/8 Latin piece with a dark, exotic flavor that recalls no other jazz composer as much as

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

. The first two chords are E minor and B7, resembling (whether consciously intended or not) one of Ellington's favorite harmonic gestures." Silver said that the words he wrote for "Señor Blues" were his first song lyrics.

Original recording

The piece was first recorded on November 10, 1956, by the Horace Silver Quintet, of Silver (piano),

Hank Mobley Henry Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neithe ...

(tenor saxophone),

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

(trumpet),

Doug Watkins Douglas Watkins (March 2, 1934 – February 5, 1962) was an American jazz double bassist. He was best known for being an accompanist to various hard bop artists in the Detroit area, including Donald Byrd and Jackie McLean. Biography Watkins ...

(bass), and

Louis Hayes Louis Hayes (born May 31, 1937) is an American jazz drummer and band leader. He was with McCoy Tyner's trio for more than three years. Since 1989 he has led his own band, and together with Vincent Herring formed the Cannonball Legacy Band. He i ...

(drums).

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

commented that Señor Blues' officially put Horace Silver on the map". It was released as part of the

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

album '' 6 Pieces of Silver''. The track was a minor hit and was released as a 45-rpm single by Blue Note.

Taj Mahal album

A Taj Mahal album featuring the song carries its name as album title.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senor Blues (song) 1950s jazz standards 1956 songs Compositions by Horace Silver