Jazz Articles about Horace Silver

Horace Silver Quintet: Silver's Serenade

by Samuel Chell
January 31, 2007

What's with the producers at Blue Note/EMI? Or is it engineer Rudy Van Gelder who decides what gets reissued? Silver's Serenade is vintage, nicely representative music by the pianist-composer's best known ensemble, but it was never out of print. By contrast, one of the few Silver sessions for which the term “inspired" might apply--Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet (1958)--languishes in the archives, currently available only as a pricey Japanese import.

Recorded in 1963, Silver's Serenade was ...

Horace Silver: Doin' the Thing

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 31, 2006

Cosa si può dire di intelligente e inedito su un disco come questo? Nulla o quasi, per quanti sforzi si facciano. Anche se non si tratta di una di quelle opere che hanno fatto la storia del jazz, dal punto di vista del linguaggio ci troviamo di fronte a un prototipo jazzistico, un'icona stilistica, un classico che ci sembra di aver sempre avuto nelle orecchie. Il contesto della registrazione è quello del Village Gate nelle sere del 19 e 20 ...

Horace Silver: Doin' The Thing - At The Village Gate

by Hrayr Attarian
October 9, 2006

Calling any of Horace Silver's Blue Note recordings outstanding is almost redundant. One, however, is especially unique, not only because of its quality, but because it is the only live recording of his most famous quintet. Although it was recorded 45 years ago, this CD has the power to transport one back in time to the smoky room at Village Gate where one feels the raw energy of the live performance. The music is quintessential hard bop ...

The Horace Silver Quintet: Horace-Scope

by Samuel Chell
July 4, 2006

It's highly doubtful there's been a more instantaneously infectious recent release than this new Rudy Van Gelder edition of a 1960 Horace Silver master session. Without as much as a pickup note, the opening measure places the listener in stride with as irresistible a tune as Silver ever composed: “Strollin.'" The remaining pieces are no less addictive; and on each, Silver's compositional flare is as evident on the internal ensemble choruses, transitions, and background riffs as the in-and-out choruses.

Horace Silver: Silver's Blue

by Samuel Chell
June 18, 2006

Horace Silver has always been an effective, if limited, catch-phrase soloist, an exemplary hard bop accompanist, and a brilliant miniaturist as a composer, contributing pieces that continue to surface and surprise with their inventive, irresistible melodies and inviting harmonic progressions. Unfortunately, the popular and critical success Silver realized with 1964's Song for My Father led to more of the same--formulaic tunes like the title song, restricted solo space for his musicians, and stiff presentations (the three times I caught him ...

Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver

by Ken Dryden
May 8, 2006

Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver Horace Silver Hardcover; 282 pages ISBN: 0520243749 University of California Press 2006

Horace Silver's life story is very entertaining. The pianist and composer, who has pretty much retired from performing due to back problems, pulls few punches in discussing his life, illustrating it with numerous humorous or poignant anecdotes, from his days growing up in Connecticut to hitting the ...

Horace Silver: Silver's Blue

by Jim Santella
October 24, 2005

Recorded in July of 1956, Silver's Blue expresses the true meaning of the blues. Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, and Joe Gordon “sing out" with a spirit true to the form as pianist Horace Silver sculpts Jazz Messenger empathy from his quintets. Half of the session comes from the leader's composing pen, “Hank's Tune" comes from Mobley's pen, and the others are standards. Silver's piano weaves the tradition of jazz through each selection with care. As a blues-based program, ...