Horace Silver
From the perspective of the 21st century, it is clear that few jazz musicians had a greater impact on the contemporary mainstream than Horace Silver. The hard bop style that Silver pioneered in the '50s is now dominant, played not only by holdovers from an earlier generation, but also by fuzzy-cheeked musicians who had yet to be born when the music fell out of critical favor in the '60s and '70s. Silver's earliest musical influence was the Cape Verdean folk music he heard from his Portuguese-born father. Later, after he had begun playing piano and saxophone as a high schooler, Silver came under the spell of blues singers and boogie-woogie pianists, as well as boppers like Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. In 1950, Stan Getz played a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, with a pickup rhythm section that included Silver, drummer Walter Bolden, and bassist Joe Calloway. So impressed was Getz, he hired the whole trio. Silver had been saving his money to move to New York anyway; his hiring by Getz sealed the deal. Silver worked with Getz for a year, then began to freelance around the city with such big-time players as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Oscar Pettiford. In 1952, he recorded with Lou Donaldson for the Blue Note label; this date led him to his first recordings as a leader. In 1953, he joined forces with Art Blakey to form a cooperative under their joint leadership. The band's first album, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, was a milestone in the development of the genre that came to be known as hard bop. Many of the tunes penned by Silver for that record -- "The Preacher," "Doodlin'," "Room 608" -- became jazz classics. By 1956, Silver had left the Messengers to record on his own. The series of Blue Note albums that followed established him for all time as one of jazz's major composer/pianists. LPs like Blowin' the Blues Away and Song for My Father (both recorded by an ensemble that included Silver's longtime sidemen Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook) featured Silver's harmonically sophisticated and formally distinctive compositions for small jazz ensemble. Silver's piano style -- terse, imaginative, and utterly funky -- became a model for subsequent mainstream pianists to emulate. Some of the most influential horn players of the '50s, '60s, and '70s first attained a measure of prominence with Silver -- musicians like Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Benny Golson, and the Brecker Brothers all played in Silver's band at a point early in their careers. Silver has even affected members of the avant-garde; Cecil Taylor confesses a Silver influence, and trumpeter Dave Douglas played briefly in a Silver combo. Silver recorded exclusively for Blue Note until that label's eclipse in the late '70s, whereupon he started his own label, Silveto. Silver's '80s work was poorly distributed. During that time he began writing lyrics to his compositions, and his work began to display a concern with music's metaphysical powers, as exemplified by album titles like Music to Ease Your Disease and Spiritualizing the Senses. In the '90s, Silver abandoned his label venture and began recording for Columbia. With his re-emergence on a major label, Silver once again received a measure of the attention his contributions deserve. Certainly, no one ever contributed a larger and more vital body of original compositions to the jazz canon. Silver died in New York on June 18, 2014 at the age of 85.© Chris Kelsey /TiVo Read more
From the perspective of the 21st century, it is clear that few jazz musicians had a greater impact on the contemporary mainstream than Horace Silver. The hard bop style that Silver pioneered in the '50s is now dominant, played not only by holdovers from an earlier generation, but also by fuzzy-cheeked musicians who had yet to be born when the music fell out of critical favor in the '60s and '70s.
Silver's earliest musical influence was the Cape Verdean folk music he heard from his Portuguese-born father. Later, after he had begun playing piano and saxophone as a high schooler, Silver came under the spell of blues singers and boogie-woogie pianists, as well as boppers like Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. In 1950, Stan Getz played a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, with a pickup rhythm section that included Silver, drummer Walter Bolden, and bassist Joe Calloway. So impressed was Getz, he hired the whole trio. Silver had been saving his money to move to New York anyway; his hiring by Getz sealed the deal.
Silver worked with Getz for a year, then began to freelance around the city with such big-time players as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Oscar Pettiford. In 1952, he recorded with Lou Donaldson for the Blue Note label; this date led him to his first recordings as a leader. In 1953, he joined forces with Art Blakey to form a cooperative under their joint leadership. The band's first album, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, was a milestone in the development of the genre that came to be known as hard bop. Many of the tunes penned by Silver for that record -- "The Preacher," "Doodlin'," "Room 608" -- became jazz classics. By 1956, Silver had left the Messengers to record on his own. The series of Blue Note albums that followed established him for all time as one of jazz's major composer/pianists. LPs like Blowin' the Blues Away and Song for My Father (both recorded by an ensemble that included Silver's longtime sidemen Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook) featured Silver's harmonically sophisticated and formally distinctive compositions for small jazz ensemble.
Silver's piano style -- terse, imaginative, and utterly funky -- became a model for subsequent mainstream pianists to emulate. Some of the most influential horn players of the '50s, '60s, and '70s first attained a measure of prominence with Silver -- musicians like Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Benny Golson, and the Brecker Brothers all played in Silver's band at a point early in their careers. Silver has even affected members of the avant-garde; Cecil Taylor confesses a Silver influence, and trumpeter Dave Douglas played briefly in a Silver combo.
Silver recorded exclusively for Blue Note until that label's eclipse in the late '70s, whereupon he started his own label, Silveto. Silver's '80s work was poorly distributed. During that time he began writing lyrics to his compositions, and his work began to display a concern with music's metaphysical powers, as exemplified by album titles like Music to Ease Your Disease and Spiritualizing the Senses. In the '90s, Silver abandoned his label venture and began recording for Columbia. With his re-emergence on a major label, Silver once again received a measure of the attention his contributions deserve. Certainly, no one ever contributed a larger and more vital body of original compositions to the jazz canon. Silver died in New York on June 18, 2014 at the age of 85.
© Chris Kelsey /TiVo
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Song For My Father
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jul 20, 2012
The Qobuz Ideal Discography24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Six Pieces Of Silver
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1956
Qobuz RéférenceThe first classic album by the Horace Silver Quintet, this set is highlighted by "Señor Blues" and "Cool Eyes." The early Silver quintet of 1956 was e ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Horace Silver And The Jazz Messengers
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Feb 14, 2022
Hi-Res AudioIn 1954, pianist Horace Silver teamed with drummer Art Blakey to form a cooperative ensemble that would combine the dexterity and power of bebop with ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Blowin' The Blues Away
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1959
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Blowin' The Blues Away
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1959
Hi-Res Audio24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Song for My Father
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jul 20, 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Tokyo Blues (Remastered)
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1962
Qobuz RéférenceFollowing a series of concert dates in Tokyo late in 1961 with his quintet, Horace Silver returned to the U.S. with his head full of the Japanese melo ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Doin' The Thing: The Horace Silver Quintet At The Village Gate (Remastered 2006/Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Aug 1, 1961
Qobuz RéférenceThis live set (recorded at the Village Gate) finds pianist/composer Horace Silver and his most acclaimed quintet (the one with trumpeter Blue Mitchell ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Stylings Of Silver (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on May 8, 1957
The 1957 Horace Silver Quintet (featuring trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley) is in top form on this date, particularly on "My One ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Serenade To A Soul Sister
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1968
One of the last great Horace Silver albums for Blue Note, Serenade to a Soul Sister is also one of the pianist's most infectiously cheerful, good-humo ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Song For My Father
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1964
The Qobuz Ideal DiscographyOne of Blue Note's greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver's signature LP and the peak of a discography already studde ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Horace Silver Trio
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1957
Qobuz RéférenceSeveral early-'50s sessions were culled to produce this must-have collection of pianist Horace Silver in a rare trio setting. Together with longtime p ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The United States Of Minds
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 2004
Released on CD as part of the limited-edition Blue Note Connoisseur series, United States of Mind represents pianist and composer Horace Silver's spra ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music For Lovers
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 2006
Here are ten tracks showcasing the utter beauty of Horace Silver's playing -- and in some cases, composing -- jazz ballads. These tunes are lushly rom ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Cape Verdean Blues
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1965
The Qobuz Ideal DiscographyQobuz RéférenceAfter the success of Song for My Father and its hit title cut, Horace Silver was moved to pay further tribute to his dad, not to mention connect with ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Jody Grind
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by Blue Note Records on Jan 1, 1966
Following the subtly modern bent of much of The Cape Verdean Blues, Horace Silver recommitted himself to his trademark "funky jazz" sound on The Jody ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Silver's Blue
Horace Silver
Pop - Released by Epic - Legacy on Jan 1, 1956
Two sessions in the mid-'50s produced the material for this album, which despite or perhaps because of being one of the historical early recordings of ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Silver 'N Wood
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by EMI Music Japan Inc. on Jan 1, 1976
The second of five LPs that find Horace Silver's Quintet (which by 1976 featured trumpeter Tom Harrell and tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg) augmented by a ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Total Response (The United States Of Mind / Phase 2)
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by EMI Music Japan Inc. on Jan 1, 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Silver 'N Percussion
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by EMI Music Japan Inc. on Jan 1, 1977
Despite what the title says, the voice is the focus of these six cuts, which act as two three-part suites -- one devoted to African tribes, the other ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live At Newport '58 (Live)
Horace Silver
Jazz - Released by EMI on Jan 1, 2007
With their 1956 Blue Note classic 6 Pieces of Silver, the Horace Silver Quintet had helped establish hard bop as the most exciting new direction in ja ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo