Horace Silver Live 1979

The pioneering jazz musician known for his distinctive hard bop style and innovative compositions that blended blues, gospel, and soul influences.

01) Introduction (:51)
02) Sun God Of The Messiah (5:15)
03) The Aztec Sun God (15:22)
04) The Mohican And the Great Spirit (17:23)
05) Togetherness (8:56)
06) Band Intros (1:51)
07) Nica's Dream -> fade out (7:15)
Total Time: 57:00

I’ve been a serious Horace Silver fan since I started listening to Jazz in the early 60s. Song for My Father was one of the first LPs I purchased, when I was thirteen.

Horace Silver is often credited as one of the pioneers of hard bop, a subgenre of jazz that incorporates elements of rhythm and blues, gospel, and soul music that was very popular in the 50s and 60s. He also composed many jazz standards that have become staples in the jazz repertoire including "Song for My Father," "The Preacher," and "Senor Blues."

Mr. Silver led his own group, the Horace Silver Quintet, for many years. This group was known for its tight, soulful playing and was instrumental in defining the hard bop sound.

Horace started as tenor player but ended up, much to our delight, as a pianist. His playing and compositions have influenced countless musicians. His use of bluesy melodies, catchy riffs, and soulful grooves has left a lasting impact on the world of jazz.

Over his career, Silver recorded numerous albums, many of which are considered classics. His early work was on Blue Note and then, in the 70s, he began self-producing his own recordings. In his last decade, he did several albums for Columbia and Verve, one of which, A Prescription for the Blues, featured the Brecker Brothers. Both Randy and Mike played with Horace in the early 70s. In fact, the first time I heard Mike was on Gregory Is Here, from In Pursuit of the 27th Man.

I interviewed Horace once in 1978, when I was writing for DownBeat but our encounter was never published. I ran into him again at an IAJE Conference in New York in the early 2000s and told him how much I enjoyed his later Blue Note recordings, Silver ‘n Brass, Silver ‘n Wood, Silver ‘n Voices, Silver ‘n Percussion and Silver ‘n Strings. Sadly, he told me that Blue Note Record, by then part of a conglomerate, dropped the ball on reissuing that important part of his discography.

I’ll feature some Horace Silver video on a Playlist soon, but today’s offering is audio only, from an FM broadcast recorded March 8, 1979 at Stadsgehoorzaal, Kampen, The Netherlands. His group at the time featured Larry Schneider on Tenor Saxophone, John McNeil on Trumpet and Fluegelhorn, Todd Coolman on bass and Harold White on drums.

Horace was on tour for his "Silver 'N Percussion" album, and tracks 2, 3 and 4 are from that album.

Horace Silver's contributions to jazz have solidified his place as one of the genre's great innovators. His music continues to be celebrated and studied by musicians and enthusiasts around the world.

And by the way, I found this music on Sugarmegs, a site of performances that my dear friend Bob Belden hipped me to a long time ago. There is some incredible music available on that site. Highly recommend.