Horace Silver

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Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva (born September 2, 1928 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is an American jazz pianist and composer born to a Cape Verdean father (of mixed Portuguese-African descent) and a mother of Irish and African descent. He is known for his distinctive humorous and funky playing style and for his pioneering contributions to hard bop. Silver was influenced by a wide range of musical styles, notably gospel music, African music, and Latin American music.

Silver began his career as a saxophonist, but later switched to piano. His playing was highly influenced by the style of Bud Powell. Silver was discovered in a Hartford, Connecticut club by saxophonist Stan Getz, with whom Silver made his recording debut. He moved to New York City, where he formed a co-operatively run group with Art Blakey.

In 1952 and 1953 he recorded three sessions with his own trio, featuring Blakey on drums and Gene Ramey, Curly Russell and Percy Heath subsequently taking up the bass. The drummer-pianist team lasted for four years; during this time, Silver and Blakey recorded at Birdland (A Night at Birdland) with Clifford Brown and Lou Donaldson, at the Bohemia with Kenny Dorham and Hank Mobley, and also in the studios. From this point onwards, Silver recorded for the Blue Note label, eventually becoming close to label boss Alfred Lion who allowed him greater input on aspects of album production than was usual at the time.

During Silver's time with Blakey he rarely recorded as a leader, but having split with him in 1956, he formed his own hard bop quintet, at first featuring the same line-up as Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with 18-year-old Louis Hayes subbing for Blakey. The quintet's second line-up featured Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook.

They remained Silver's partners for a few years, parting with Silver in 1963, when they both assembled new bands. In the new group which came to be led by Mitchell, Chick Corea was the pianist. Silver's new group meanwhile featured Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and Carmell Jones on trumpet; this quintet recorded most of the best-known album by Silver — Song for My Father. When Jones left to settle in Europe, the trumpet chair was filled by a young Woody Shaw and Tyrone Washington replaced Henderson.

Silver's compositions, catchy and very strong harmonically, gained popularity while his band gradually switched to funk and soul.

This change of style was not readily accepted by many long-time fans. The quality of several albums of this era, such as The United States of Mind (on which Silver himself provided vocals on several tracks), is to this day contested by fans of the genre. Silver's spirituality displayed on these albums also has a mixed reputation.

However, many of these later albums featured many interesting musicians (such as Randy Brecker). Silver was the last musician to be signed to Blue Note in the 1970s before it went into temporary abeyance. In 1981 he formed his own short-lived label, Silveto.

Contents 1 Selected compositions 2 Partial discography 3 Quotations 4 External links

[edit] Selected compositions

• "Doodlin'"
• "The Preacher"
• "Nica's Dream"
• "Opus de Funk"
• "Safari"
• "Sister Sadie"
• "Blowin' the Blues Away"
• "Song for My Father"
• "Quicksilver"
• "The Dragon Lady"
• "Nutville"
• "Horacescope"

[edit] Partial discography

• Horace Silver Trio (1952/1953)
• Six Pieces Of Silver (1956)
• The Stylings Of Silver (1957)
• Further Explorations By The Horace Silver Quintet (1958)
• Finger Poppin' With The Horace Silver Quintet (1959)
• Blowin' The Blues Away (1959)
• Horace-Scope (1960)
• Doin' The Thing, The Horace Silver Quintet At The Village Gate (1961)
• The Tokyo Blues (1962)
• Silver's Serenade (1963)
• Song for My Father (1964)
• The Cape Verdean Blues (1965)
• The Jody Grind (1966)
• Serenade To A Soul Sister (1968)
• In Pursuit Of The 27th Man (1972)
• It's Gotta Be Funky (1993)
• Pencil Packin' Papa (1994)
• The Hardbop Grandpop (1996)
• A Prescription For The Blues (1997)
• Jazz Has A Sense Of Humor (1999)

[edit] Quotations

• "What is jazz music but another language?"^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• Horace Silver at the Hard Bop Home Page
• Horace Silver entry at the Jazz Discography Project
• Horace Silver at the All Music Guide
• Listening In: An Interview with Horace Silver by Bob Rosenbaum, Los Angeles, December 1981 (PDF file)