Amilisom
Probably what I enjoy the most out of this album is the interesting combination of swing and latin/caribbean feels. The drummer Roger Humphries does a brilliant job with creating this feel with the means of removing the snare from the snare drum but still creating a swing feel on some of the tracks. In "The African Queen," he switches back in forth from straight eighths and swing.
Horace Silver himself is probably the most reserved soloist on this album. Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, and J.J. Johnson all reach points in their solos where they play long, quick phrases. Horace Silver, on the other hand, plays very few notes in comparison to create his melodic ideas. Occasionally he'll create a cool pattern using 4 or 5 notes that he'll repeat a few times.
It's not often that you hear a jazz album that has a featured trombone player. In this album J.J. Johnson plays melodically and aggressively in his solos. I enjoy hearing the control he has over his instrument.
The more I listen to this album, I enjoy it more and more to the point that I am willing to give this a five-star rating.