Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including saxophone, brass instruments, electric guitar, bass, drums, piano, vocals and electric organ. Its origins were in the 1950s and early 1960s, with its heyday with popular audiences preceding the rise of jazz fusion in the late 1960s and 1970s. Prominent names in fusion ranged from bop pianists including Bobby Timmons and Junior Mance to a wide range of organists, saxophonists, pianists, drummers and electric guitarists including Jack McDuff, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Grant Green.
Song for My Father is a 1965 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, released on the Blue Note label in 1965. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver's father, John Tavares Silver, to whom the title composition was dedicated. "My mother was of Irish and Negro descent, my father of Portuguese origin," Silver recalls in the liner notes: "He was born on the island of Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands."
Herman "Junior" Cook was an American hard bop tenor saxophone player.
Blowin' the Blues Away is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver, released on the Blue Note label in 1959, featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Eugene Taylor, and Louis Hayes.
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is an album by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers compiling two 1955 10" LPs—Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 3 and Horace Silver Quintet, Vol. 4 —recorded on November 13, 1954 and February 6, 1955 respectively and released on Blue Note in October 1956—Silver’s debut 12". The quintet features horn section Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham and rhythm section Doug Watkins and Art Blakey.
Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet is an album by American jazz pianist Horace Silver, recorded on January 13, 1958 and released on Blue Note in 1958. The quintet features horn section Art Farmer and Clifford Jordan and rhythm section Teddy Kotick and Louis Hayes.
6 Pieces of Silver is an album by the Horace Silver Quintet, recorded on November 10, 1956 and released on Blue Note later that year. The quintet features brass section Donald Byrd and Hank Mobley and rhythm section Doug Watkins and Louis Hayes.
Horace-Scope is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1960 featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Roy Brooks.
Doin' the Thing is a live album by jazz pianist Horace Silver, released on the Blue Note label in 1961. It was the only live album released featuring the "classic" Horace Silver Quintet.
The Tokyo Blues is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1962, featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Joe Harris. The AllMusic review awarded the album 4 stars.
Silver's Serenade is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1963 featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Roy Brooks.
Serenade to a Soul Sister is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1968, featuring performances by Silver with Charles Tolliver, Stanley Turrentine, Bennie Maupin, Bob Cranshaw, John Williams, Mickey Roker and Billy Cobham.
Quartet/Quintet/Sextet is an album by American jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson recorded on June 20 and November 19, 1952 and August 21, 1954 and released on Blue Note in 1957. The quartet features rhythm section Horace Silver, Gene Ramey and Art Taylor; the quintet adds trumpeter Blue Mitchell. The sextet features a new lineup, with brass section Kenny Dorham and Matthew Gee and rhythm section Elmo Hope, Percy Heath and Art Blakey.
Live at Newport '58 is a live album by jazz pianist Horace Silver. The album was recorded on July 6, 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival. Blue Note Records released the album in 2008. It is one of the few officially released live albums with Silver as bandleader.
New Soil is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1959 and released on the Blue Note label. It features McLean's quintet with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Walter Davis Jr., bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Pete La Roca.
Jackie's Bag is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1959 and 1960 and released by Blue Note. It features three tracks with McLean in a quintet featuring trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, and six tracks with a sextet featuring tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor.
The Cup Bearers is an album by American trumpeter Blue Mitchell recorded in 1962 and released on the Riverside label.
Calvin Eugene "Gene" Taylor, was an American jazz double bassist. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, and began his career in Detroit, Michigan. Taylor worked with Horace Silver from 1958 until 1963. He then joined Blue Mitchell's quintet, with whom he recorded and performed until 1965. From 1966 until 1968, he toured and recorded with Nina Simone. Simone recorded the song "Why? ", which Taylor wrote following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Taylor began teaching music in New York public schools. Taylor worked with Judy Collins from 1968 until 1976, and made numerous television appearances accompanying Simone and Collins. He died on December 22, 2001, in Sarasota, Florida, where he had been living since 1990.
"Peace" is a composition by Horace Silver that was first recorded on August 29, 1959. It has become a jazz standard. Silver also wrote lyrics for the tune.
