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Horace Silver: The Top 25 pearls in Jazz history
Horace Silver biography
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.
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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.
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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. Horace 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.
He had a son, Gregory – now a rap musician under the name of G Wise – from his marriage to Barbara, which ended in divorce.
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver, pianist and composer, born 2 September 1928, died 18 June 2014.
Selected Discography
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, Blue Note, 1954
Blowin’ the Blues Away, Blue Note, 1959
Song For My Father, Blue Note, 1964
Cape Verdean Blues, Blue Note, 1965
The Hardbop Grandpop, GRP, 1996
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Horace Silver – Blowin The Blues Away
Personnel:
Horace Silver – piano
Blue Mitchell – trumpet
Junior Cook – tenor saxophone
Gene Taylor – bass
Louis Hayes – drums
from the album ‘BLOWIN’ THE BLUES AWAY’ (Blue Note Records)
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Minecraft Piano – Piano – Sheet Music | ||
Minecraft Theme (Sweden Calm) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Minecraft Theme Sweden Calm | ||
Minecraft Vol Alpha (Full Piano Collection) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Minecraft Vol. Alpha (Full Piano Collection) | ||
Minor Blues Jazz Guitar Exercise (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Minor Heaven (Tarja Turunen) | ||
Minor Swing (Chocolat OST) Rachel Portman | ||
Minority (Pat Martino Style) Jazz Standard By Gigi Gryce (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Minstrels (Marcovalerio Marletta) | ||
Miracle Piano Teaching System, The | ||
Mirage (Lara Fabian) | ||
Misa Collection 3 Songbook | ||
Misraki Hornez Sans Vous (Chanté Par Lucien Jeunesse) | ||
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Miss Saigon The Musical | ||
Missa Johnouchi Kataribe Piano Collection | ||
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Missy Higgins – Scar | ||
Missy Higgins – Sugarcane | ||
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Missy Higgins – This Is How It Goes | ||
Misty – Errol Garner | ||
Misty – Erroll Garner (Piano Solo) | Misty – Erroll Garner (Piano Solo) | |
Misty (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Misty by Erroll Garner | ||
Miumiu I Wish You Love Bossa Nova | ||
Mizue Murakami Autumn Leaves Tango Level 4 Intermediate for piano solo | ||
Moana – How Far I’ll Go (another version) | Moana | |
Moana Songbook (Lin Manuel Miranda) Piano Vocal guitar | Moana Songbook (Lin Manuel Miranda) Piano Vocal guitar | |
Moby – Great Escape | ||
Moby – Harbour | ||
Moby – In My Heart | ||
Moby – In This World | ||
Moby – The Rafters | ||
Moby – We Are All Made Of Stars | ||
Moby – Why Does My Heart | ||
Moby Play Songbook Piano Vocal Guitar chords | ||
Modal & Contemporary Patterns By David Baker | Modal & Contemporary Patterns By David Baker | |
Modern Guitar Method Grade 1 Mel Bay | Modern Guitar Method Grade 1 Mel Bay | |
Modern Guitar Method Grade 2 Mel Bay | Modern Guitar Method Grade 2 Mel Bay | |
Modern Guitar Method Grade 3 Mel Bay (expanded edition) | Modern Guitar Method Grade 3 Mel Bay (expanded edition) | |
Modern Jazz Guitar Concepts by Jens Larsen with Tablature | Modern Jazz Guitar Concepts Jens Larsen | |
Modern Jazz Piano – Brian Waite A study in Harmony and Impro | ||
Modern Jazz Piano Styles by Walter Stuart | ||
Modern Jazz Quartet (Songbook) Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 18 (Modern Jazz Quartet) | Modern Jazz Quartet (Songbook) Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 18 (Modern Jazz Quartet) | |
Modern Jazz Tenor Solos Hunt Butler | Modern Jazz Tenor Solos Hunt Butler | |
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Modern Rock Hits – Easy Guitar Play-Along PDF + MP3 audio tracks with Tablature | Modern Rock Hits – Easy Guitar Play-Along sheet music pdf | |
Modern Russian Piano Music (2 volumes) | Modern Russian Piano Music (2 volumes) Modern Russian Piano Music I (2 volumes) | |
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Mompou L’hora grisa (voice and piano) | ||
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Mompou Souvenirs de L’exposition | ||
Mompou Suburbis (piano) | ||
Mompou Impressions Íntimes – Impresiones Intimas | ||
Mompou Frederic – Variations sur un Theme de Chopin | Mompou Frederic – Variations sur un Theme de Chopin | |
Mompou Paisatges – Paisajes – Paysages | ||
Mompou Trois Variations | ||
Mompou, Frederic – 12 Cançons i Dances – Part 1 – no 1 to 4 12 Canciones Y Danzas | ||
Mompou, Frederic – 12 Cançons i Dances – Part 2 – no 5 to 12 Canciones Y Danzas | ||
Mompou, Frederic – El Pont de Montjuïc (Piano) | Frederic Mompou – El Pont de Montjuïc (Piano) | |
Mompou, Frederic – Prelude no 6 – For the Left Hand | ||
Mompou, Frederic – Variations sur un Theme de Chopin | Mompou – Variations sur un Theme de Chopin sheet music | |
Mompou, Música Callada | ||
Mon Enfance (Jacques Brel) | ||
Mon oncle (Franck Barcellini) | ||
Monday Struggle – Albert Ammons (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Monster Real Book 1 | Monster real book of jazz | |
Monteverdi Magnificat At Six Voices (1610) Sheet Music | ||
Monty Alexander The Collection | Monty Alexander The Collection | |
Monty Python – Spamalot (A New Musical ) Piano-Vocal Slections | Monty Python – spamalot | |
Monty Python Songbook | ||
Moody Blues – The best of | Moody Blues – The best of | |
Moon River Henry Mancini | ||
Moon River SATB Choral | ||
Moon River – Henry Mancini – Piano | Moon River | |
Moon River – Henry Mancini For Choir Satb (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Moon River -Jazz Standard | ||
Moon River (Guitar Transcription) | Moon River Guitar Transcription sheet music | |
Moon River (Henry Mancini) | ||
Moon River (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Moonlight (Frank Bridge) | ||
Morel, Jorge – Tangos And Milongas For Solo Guitar | Morel, Jorge – Tangos And Milongas For Solo Guitar | |
Morning Serenade – Romeo and Juliet (Sergej Prokofiev) | ||
Morricone Once Upon A Time In The West – C’era Una Volta Il West Ennio Morricone(Musescore File).mscz | ||
Morris Albert – Feelings | ||
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Morton Feldman Nature Pieces For Piano | ||
Morton Feldman Solo Piano Works 1950 64 | ||
Moscheles Études op70 selection (12 études) | ||
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Mostazo, Juan – Los Piconeros (Guitar, Guitarra) | ||
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Moszkowski – 15 Etudes de Virtuosite, op 72 | ||
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Motorhead – The Game | ||
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Mourir sur scène (Dalida) | ||
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Moustaki Le Métèque | Moustaki Le Métèque | |
Moustaki Voyage | Moustaki Voyage | |
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Movie Favorites Songbook Student Piano Library Popular Songs Series | Movie Favorites Songbook Student Piano Library Popular Songs Series | |
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