For Heaven’s Sake

Horace Silver (piano), Doug Watkins (bass) and Louis Hayes (drums). From the album 6 Pieces of Silver (1957).

Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer who plays in the hard bop style and whose main influence was Philly Joe Jones, but his teacher was Joe Jones. He is known for being a good accompanist rather than a good soloist. In 1955 and 1956 he worked with Yusef Lateef and Curtis Fuller.

Then he moved to New York and played with three important groups: the Horace Silver Quintet, the Cannonball Adderley Quintet and the Oscar Peterson Trio until 1967. He then formed his own group and participated in numerous recordings as a studio musician. Over the next few decades he has recorded his own albums, has played with McCoy Tyner’s trio for three years and from 1989 has led his own group.

This theme is a jazz standard and its played by Silver in a trio. The short introduction is a bit scary, but it's actually a romantic theme for a couple to dance. Silver plays the piano with skill and feeling. After the long theme, the music is turned up in the solo, which Silver runs with energy and passion using sharp notes. Then he recreates himself in the melody of the song while Watkins plays the double bass with the bow and stays playing alone in the last part of the song changing the form of his speech.