Horace Silver and Me...

Often, as a young musician in my early twenties, I would get real nervous when one of the great piano players came into a club where I was playing. I would say, 'Aw shit, so-snd-so is in the house listening. I've got to try to play my best.' Consequently, I would tense up and not play as well. I wasn't cured of the affliction until years later, when both Bud Powell and Erroll Garner came into Birdland one night while I was playing. I got all tensed up, and I couldn't play relaxed. Then, at one point, I happened to look up from the piano and gaze over at the bar. They weren't even listening. They were hittin' on some chicks at the bar. Tryin' to cop. That cured me....

Horace Silver

They let me approve them. Frank Wolff usually took all the pictures and Reid Miles did all of the designing. When they would get it together, they would have me come in and take a look at it. Most of the time, I approved of it. I told Alfred that most of the guys that recorded for him were concerned with doing a good record and the packaging, they didn't give a shit about. I didn't want a picture on the cover that I didn't like and every time I looked at the cover, I cringed. He gave me that privilege of doing that and that is how I learned to be a producer, watching him and what he did and him allowing me to have input on the covers and liner notes.
Horace Silver on Blue Note's co-founder Alfred Lion

***6 Pieces Of Silver*** (1956) signed by Horace

Horace wrote them tight. There were no head charts. Horace wrote interludes and had whole compositions written out for the horns. When Horace wrote something, you knew immediately it was his. He had that tight snap and harmonies that hooked you.
Louis Hayes, drummer extraordinaire

***Sonny Rollins Vol. 2*** (1957) signed by Horace, J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins

Horace Silver became a major contributor to jazz through his brilliant songs, stellar improvisations, and twenty eight year association with Blue Note Records, the longest tenure in the history of that historic label. Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Horace studied saxophone in high school and took private piano lessons, before gigging around in local nightclubs. Horace's breakthrough occurred when Stan Getz saw him perform at the Sundown Club in Hartford in 1949. As Horace recalled, "Stan Getz came up and played with us. He said he was going to call us, but we didn’t take him seriously. But a couple of weeks later he called and said he wanted the whole trio to join him.” Horace toured with Stan for a year before settling in New York City and working with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Big Nick Nicholas and with Art Blakey in an early iteration of The Jazz Messengers. Horace then started his own bands, recording initially with a trio before forming a quintet - a classic line up of piano, bass, drums, tenor saxophone, and trumpet.

Blessed with an unerring eye for talent, Horace's quintets over the years included Joe Henderson, Hank Mobley, Art Farmer, Louis Hayes, Blue Mitchell, Carmell Jones, Junior Cook, Donald Byrd, and Kenny Dorham, a veritable who's who of 1950s (and beyond) jazz stars. All these artists forged successful solo careers after playing with the inestimable talents and leadership of Horace Silver.

Horace was a gifted composer and many of his compositions have become jazz standards. Most of his songs have a bluesy funk borne of his father's Cape Verdean heritage mixed in with his own gospel and blues roots. "Song For My Father" is probably the most famous, a rollicking, island-infused burner which has been covered by James Brown, Jimmy McGriff and Jimmy Smith, among many others. The album cover has a photo of his dad, John Tavares Silva, in sartorial splendor: dapper suit, tie and pocket square, straw hat perched back, with a cigar stub scarcely concealing his pride and glee. "Song For My Father" starts with Horace's piano introduction and then, tenor saxophone great Joe Henderson pairs with the clarion trumpet of Carmell Jones as they restate the melody, before Horace and Joe trade extended solos. It is a catchy and engaging tune. So catchy, it seems, that keyboardist Donald Fagen cribbed the entire opening virtually note for note in Steely Dan's pop hit "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." I guess, Fagen, a self-described "jazz snob", could do a lot worse than steal from the masterful Horace Silver, but there should be a writing credit!

***Song For My Father*** (1964) signed by Horace

Horace's other major contributions to jazz standards are: "Doodlin' " covered by Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, "The Preacher" covered by Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, "Senor Blues" covered by Poncho Sanchez, Shirley Scott, "Peace" covered by Chet Baker, Norah Jones, and "Sister Sadie" covered by Ray Charles, Maceo Parker, James Moody. When John Coltrane heard "Sister Sadie"at a gig in Philadelphia, Trane asked, "What's the name of that 'Amen' number you're playing?" And Horace described writing "Peace" in celestial terms: "I was doodlin' around on the piano, and it just came to me, but I also had the impression that there was an angel standing over me, impressing my mind with this beautiful melody and harmony."

The song with the most covers is "Opus De Funk" which was recorded in 1953 with Percy Heath on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. Containing one of the earliest references to 'funk' in a song title, it has inspired more than sixty versions. Art Pepper, Milt Jackson and Junior Mance are just a few of the notable artists who have brought the funk to this opus.

***The Stylings Of Silver*** (1957) signed by Horace

Horace was also a shrewd businessman. He owned all of his publishing due to some early and sage advice from composer and arranger Gigi Gryce. The royalties afforded Horace a steady income, a nice lifestyle and he rarely toured, especially when he moved to Los Angeles in 1974 and then Malibu. I mean, who really wants to leave Malibu?! In addition, Horace was rather parsimonious, particularly in his early years. Art Blakey described his frugality rather succinctly: " Horace don't spend nothin', but a lovely evenin'."

I saw Horace perform only once, at the Blue Note in New York City in 2004. He had an octet, and they were highlighting songs from a musical he had written that had only a few performances in Los Angeles in 1989. The music was released on CD in 2003 and it was entitled Rockin' With Rachmaninoff. The story's conceit was Rachmaninoff dies, goes to heaven and Duke Ellington escorts him to meet Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Thelonious Monk, and hijinks and songs ensue. Despite its brief run, the musical received good reviews and the Blue Note show was a great success, as Horace had some very accomplished musicians joining him on the bandstand including Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone and Randy Brecker on trumpet. They performed titles like "Monkeying Around With Monk", "Rocky Meets The Duke", and "A Ballad For Hawk." As a fitting finale, Horace ended with a grooving and soulful "Song For My Father."

***Doin’ The Thing*** (1961) signed by Horace

After the show, I sat with Horace in his dressing room. I asked him if he would mind signing a couple of albums. He said "Sure", and a couple quickly became eight. He seemed quite surprised with the thunderous applause and he mentioned how enthusiastic the audience was. ‘This ain't Malibu, This is New York City, you need to come back and play here more often,’ I advised. "Yes, there was a lot of energy out there tonight." he replied. Sadly, there were no more tours after that week long engagement at The Blue Note in 2004, and that was his last public appearance. Horace's health deteriorated and he became a bit of a recluse until he passed away at 85 years of age in 2014. Nevertheless, his impressive discography and legacy endures.

Horace Silver, a wonderful composer, pianist, and band leader. Thanks again for all those numbers, the melodic and the mystical, the secular and the sacred. As he said once, "We can reach way back and get that old time gutbucket barroom feeling with just a taste of the back-beat."

Amen.