Home » Jazz Articles » Horace Silver
Jazz Articles about Horace Silver
Stylings of Silver, Nods to Nica, Quartet of Trios
by David Brown
This week, our featured artist is pianist/composer Horace Silver. We'll check out a number of his compositions as performed by Ran Blake, Shirley Scott , Tommy Flanagan, Gigi Gryce and Silver himself. From there we will check out works written in homage to the Baroness Panonnica de Koenigswarter--known as Nica--a patron, supporter and friend to many musicians in golden age of jazz. We'll also hear recent works form the Kris Davis Trio, John Chin Trio, Anna Webber Trio, Tyshawn Sorey ...
Continue ReadingDesigning Jazz: The Iconic Album Covers of Reid Miles
by Kristine England
Blue Note Records has embodied the best jazz has to offer for over 80 years. With a catalog of greats, from Horace Silver, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon and countless others from the bop and post-bop eras, to the funky recordings that hip-hop artists have repeatedly sampled, to its current roster, the label remains at the forefront of the genre. It wasn't just the music that set the label ...
Continue ReadingThe Mount Rushmore of Hard Bop
by Michael Ricci
Member votes were tabulated and the top four vote-getters represent the Mount Rushmore of hard bop. Thank you to everyone who voted. 1Horace Silver2Art Blakey3Lee Morgan4Hank Mobley5John Coltrane6Miles Davis7Sonny Rollins8Freddie Hubbard9Cannonball Adderley10Clifford Brown11Wayne Shorter12Thelonious Monk13Max Roach14Charlie Parker15Dexter Gordon16Dizzy Gillespie17Charles Mingus18Kenny Dorham19Jackie McLean20Bobby Timmons21Benny Golson22Joe Henderson23Curtis Fuller24Paul Chambers25McCoy Tyner26Herbie Hancock27Jimmy Smith28Bud Powell29Donald Byrd30Philly Joe Jones31Sonny Clark32Grant Green33Bill Evans34Red Garland35Wes Montgomery36Ron Carter37Art Farmer38Art Pepper39Bobby Hutcherson40Lou Donaldson41Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers42Duke Ellington43Billie Holiday44Ahmad Jamal45Eric Dolphy46Cedar Walton47Michael Brecker48Phil Woods49Roy Hargrove50Elvin ...
Continue ReadingHorace Silver: Live New York Revisited
by Stefano Merighi
Benchè il profilo artistico di Horace Silver sia preso a modello in modo paradigmatico per definire lo stile hard bop nel jazz moderno, è altresì interessante notare come Silver, sin dalle sue prime uscite, abbia sempre cercato di evitare gli schemi predeterminati che soprattutto le etichette discografiche cercavano di replicare dopo aver trovato la formula del successo. Ad esempio, Silver non amava le scalette miste, quelle cioè che infilavano d'abitudine uno standard proveniente da Tin Pan Alley all'interno di un ...
Continue ReadingA Silver Set, A Bit of Brubeck + Recent Releases
by David Brown
This week, a welcome adventure in music! Jazz is Dead, A bluesy Horace Silver set, a bit of Brubeck (pre-classic quartet) plus recent releases form Daniel Carter, Billy Drummond, Sasha Berliner, Walt Weiskopf, and more. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 00:30 Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge “Summer Solstice" from Katalyst—Jazz Is Dead 13 (Jazz Is Dead ) 02:00 Yusef Lateef “In The Evening" from The Complete Yusef Lateef (Atlantic ) ...
Continue ReadingHorace Silver: His Only Mistake Was To Smile
by Chris May
In his sleeve note for the audio restored Horace Silver album Live New York Revisited (ezz-thetics, 2022), British writer Brian Morton cut to the chase. “[Silver]'s only mistake," he wrote, “was to smile while he was playing... a challenge to the notion that jazz should be deadly serious and played with a pained rictus." From a historical point of view, Silver's cheerful face--his natural, default expression on stage—has done him no favours. It has fostered a perception ...
Continue ReadingHorace Silver Quintet: Live New York Revisited
by Chris May
This fabulous album, recorded during three New York club engagements in 1964, 1965 and 1966, ranks among the finest in the pianist/composer's illustrious catalogue. There are several things going for it: the quality and shared intentionality of the two, slightly different, lineups; the choice of material and its careful sequencing; the vibrancy of the performances, which is enough to practically raise the dead; and the quality of the CD mastering by the ezz-thetics label's sonic jedi Michael Brändli, whose work ...
Continue Reading
