Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about American Jazz musician Horace Silver and showcases his composition "Song For My Father".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Horace Silver and his accompanying musicians for their musical legacy and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
-snip-
And, to quote a comment by Anna Fisher, 2017 from the discussion thread of this showcased video:
"Happy Father's Day, fathers and also to the mothers who take on both roles. Blessings always! One love <3"
****
INFORMATION ABOUT HORACE SILVER
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Silver
"Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at school in Connecticut, Silver got his break on piano when his trio was recruited by Stan Getz in 1950. Silver soon moved to New York City, where he developed a reputation as a composer and for his bluesy playing. Frequent sideman recordings in the mid-1950s helped further, but it was his work with the Jazz Messengers, co-led by Art Blakey, that brought both his writing and playing most attention. Their Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers album contained Silver's first hit, "The Preacher". After leaving Blakey in 1956, Silver formed his own quintet, with what became the standard small group line-up of tenor saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums. Their public performances and frequent recordings for Blue Note Records increased Silver's popularity, even through changes of personnel. His most successful album was Song for My Father, made with two iterations of the quintet in 1963 and 1964.
Several changes occurred in the early 1970s: Silver disbanded his group to spend more time with his wife and to concentrate on composing; he included lyrics in his recordings; and his interest in spiritualism developed. The last two of these were often combined, resulting in commercially unsuccessful releases such as The United States of Mind series. Silver left Blue Note after 28 years, founded his own record label, and scaled back his touring in the 1980s, relying in part on royalties from his compositions for income. In 1993, he returned to major record labels, releasing five albums before gradually withdrawing from public view because of health problems.
As a player, Silver transitioned from bebop to hard bop by stressing melody rather than complex harmony, and combined clean and often humorous right-hand lines with darker notes and chords in a near-perpetual left-hand rumble. His compositions similarly emphasized catchy melodies, but often also contained dissonant harmonies. Many of his varied repertoire of songs, including "Doodlin'", "Peace", and "Sister Sadie", became jazz standards that are still widely played. His considerable legacy encompasses his influence on other pianists and composers, and the development of young jazz talents who appeared in his bands over the course of four decades.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Horace Silver Quintet - Song For My Father
ukvibeorg, Published on Apr 9, 2012
Recorded live in Copenhagen, Denmark, April 1968. Song for My Father was recorded in October 1964 and released on the Blue Note label. 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 Silva, to whom the title song 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." The album line-up differs from the Copenhagen musicians here.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. ukvibeorg, 2012
"One of the best pieces of modal jazz. Thanks for the words."
**
2. Burney Warren, 2013
"incredible song and performance... one of my favorites. thanks for sharing with us."
**
3. king7allah, 2013
"OMG Horace is the MAN!!!!!"
**
4. Chuck M, 2013
"So beautiful, wonderful and soulful."
**
5. bela varga, 2013
"My absolute favorite jazz standard. Amazing!"
**
6. michael morphites, 2013
"who is the guy on sax here please? i much prefer junior cook and henderson to this chap. is it maupin? still a blistering performance from all involved. thanks."
**
REPLY
7. ukvibeorg, 2013
"Yes indeed it was Bennie Maupin on tenor sax. Bill Hardman trumpet, Johnny Williams bass and Billy Cobham drums."
**
8. John Sund, 2013
"Great stuff. The end part of Maupin's solo becomes especially imaginative - but these guys just give 100% - beautiful playing!"
**
9. Brendan Blosser-McGinnis, 2013
"That drummer is feelin it"
**
10. Victor Vazquez, 2013
"Wikipedia Notes:Jazz standard, "Song for My Father" original form. Bossa Nova F-minor w/ an AAB head, w/a trumpet & tenor sax play in harmony. Song's noticeable impact in pop music: Opening bass piano notes borrowed by Steely Dan for "Rikki Don't Lose That Number",: Opening horn riff borrowed by Stevie Wonder for "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing". Earth Wind & Fire borrowed opening bass notes for "Clover". Paull Weller noted he 'nicked 'the chords The Style Council's 1984 'Me Ship Came In'"
**
11. R D JAZZBOY, 2013
"Absolutely brilliant! better than the album recording."
**
REPLY
12. richardvilseck, 2013
"Too fast."
**
REPLY
13. R D JAZZBOY, 2013
"+richardvilseck
Well, it is faster, but it still swings like crazy so I don't have a problem. If you want to hear a classic that is way to fast in live performance, check out Take Five, live at Carnegie Hall. St. Germain actually used the intro as a sample for their Tourist album."
**
14. Lumina Pacifica, 2013
"RIP Horace Silver. He was a dear friend for over 34 years and one of the most enlightened and gifted souls on this planet. This man and his music, that poured from the depth of his heart, deserve to be celebrated."
**
15. Theo Connell, 2013
"Wow, what a tremendous version. Horace, RIP! Great composer, band leader, player."
**
16. a oneiill, 2014
"just simply, purely, wonderful, inspired, definitive and timeless"
**
17. Ed Macomber, 2014
"Share many fond memories of Horace, and fortunate enough to know Roger Humphries, one of Horace's classic drummers. I get a kick out of watching a left handed drummer handle his kit. This is superb, thanks."
**
18. lifesoboring1, 2014
"This has to be one of the liveliest, coolest jazz numbers I have heard."
**
19. Todd From Work, 2014
"If musicians were compensated on skill alone, these men would be billionaires."
**
20. MrMusicguyma, 2014
"I'm not primarily a jazzer, but I am an "appreciator" of any music with guts and soul. This song has always appealed to me, along with Cannonball Adderly's stuff, Sonny Rollins "St Thomas" et al. It seems to me that when bop took a left turn from singable melodies and dance tempos, to create music for solely for "musicians", Jazz cut off its nose to spite its face, and it has never regained popular appeal. I hear that today less than 1% of public buys jazz, that is a pity. America's non-commercial musics are often the most heartfelt, I find. I'd like to see jazz increase in our public consciousness."
**
REPLY
21. Gil Daniel, 2018
"MrMusicguyma as (somewhat of) a musician I find the fact that there's a whole genre dedicated to my "kind" very interesting. This "musician's music" been very important for my improvement and also, most of the time, quite fun listening.
Also I dont think it's strictly for musicians, just because it's sometimes not too melodic doesn't mean the "average" man cannot understand it. I give much credit to non-musicians... They can appreciate the more "hard core" jazz no less then any pro."
**
22. Barakx8, 2014
"Well, it DOES get better, but this is right up there with the best!"
**
23. The World As It Is, 2014
"Love this version! It is so masterful!"
**
24. Jim Neely, 2014
"Horace Silver the legend... this recording "Song for My Father" was the essential tune for
all jazz enthusiasts in the late 60's and beyond. This video shows Mr. Silver's actual sweat
falling on the piano keys. Silver's intensity while playing was unmatched. IT DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS!!"
**
25. makjazz7, 2014
"ohhhh my gosh....he's a beaat"
**
26. Intoxicholic, 2014
"Does anyone know if the old Portuguese folk music they're talking about is somewhere online? Probably not. Worth a question anyway I guess."
**
REPLY
27. Bill Weiner, 2014
"+Intoxicholic Check out Portuguese Fado music. Has a lot in common feeling with jazz and blues roots. Sensuous."
**
REPLY
28. Intoxicholic, 2016
"+Bill Weiner Thanks, will do."
**
29. caponsacchi, 2016
"This rigid riff is to Horace what "C-Jam Blues" is to Duke, a lesser tune useful in an introduction to playing jazz class. Duke's tune invites more freedom, swing and soul. Hardman's solo is the highlight of Horace's authoritarian, restrictive drill, making the most of it. Maupin the Oedipal son who overthrows it."
**
30. tom knoll, 2016
"One of my favorite pianists...the man, the legend...and one of his best songs...brilliant..."
**
31. Don Stanford, 2016
"This has got to be the badist (how ever you spell it) video I've ever seen. That's what you call jamming."
**
32. Reiner Tarzan, 2016
"Theis must be one of the juwels of jazz history. What a genius , Horace Silver. Incredible how he aligns about twenty
variations on the tune, none like the other, all unique!"
**
33. Willie Jordan, 2016
"I never get tired of hearing this. I particularly like the trumpet solo from Bill Hardman. He was just another in a very long list of underappreciated talents. But he could blow with the best of 'em. I'd put him against Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, and Donald Byrd any ol' day of the week and feel fairly certain that he'd come out on top. No one could outplay him."
**
34. Zapatogrande, 2016
"Whew! Man when they kick it into the double time during the piano solo, this thing smokes and takes off even more so - Cobham is on fire. As I listen to this it is approximately 49 years after the concert was recorded and it just sound so good! Who cares if it's in black and white - we get it, ¿no? Dig the comping behind the trumpet and tenor solos - pushed the rhythm even more so.
The double time behind Mr. Maupin seems to push him even more so and then there is the almost out of time reflection towards the end of his solo , which then segues into a fast 4/4 exposition of the tune for a bit, while Mr. Silver lays out for a bit -WOW what a wonderful treatment of the song overall, just going where someone would not expect it to go.
And just when you thought that they were finished. Mr.Silver rides it out for some more - wonderful group empathy all over. It lives in this modern day and time as a very unique treatment by the composer."
**
35. RealBro, 2017
"Thank God the Europeans recorded a lot of jazz musicians! We are fortunate to have this treasure trove of live performances when these geniuses were in their stride...."
**
36. Willie Jordan, 2017
"If it's possible this live version improves on the recorded version because of the trumpet solo (there is no trumpet solo on the recorded version) by Bill Hardman. His solo is a play over-and-over again piece of music!"
**
37. Gene Trujillo, 2018
"With a left hand like that you hardly need a rhythm section! You have to love someone who literally drips sweat when they play. What a beast!"
**
38. mpar91, 2018
"Genuine masterpiece...I also play in tribute to my Father, Granfathers, and Great Grandfathers. Much respect to the Legendary Horace Silver. Rest In Peace and Power to the artist and them all.🙏"
**
39. Jim Brown, 2018
"I got to hear Horace's quintets a couple of times, first in around 1961, again 10-15 years later. He played with an energy I've heard matched only by McCoy Tyner. Contrary to what you might have heard, THEY were the hardest working men in show biz! The ensemble playing is pretty ragged here as compared to what they sounded like on a good night, but Horace sounds great!"
**
REPLY
40. Charles Duckett Jr., 2018
"My one time to see Horace live was at Fat Tuesday's in NYC, maybe 1990?? The band was super pro & tight. They seemed relaxed but played with complete precision on every tune. Solos were fairly short but burning. Oops, I just remembered that I saw Horace play trio one time too, at the Village Gate I think."
**
41. Garvey Pollard, 2018
"i love cobham but its hard to beat roger humphries' drums on the album. some of the best drums ever played..ever."
**
42. M. M., 2018
"Great to watch this and especially to see a very young Billy Cobham-- interesting to see him playing fluidly on a ride cymbal to his left with his left hand--- I saw him years after Mahavishnu literally from directly above, amazing seat huh, in a medium sized club that had a full surround balcony so you could actually sit above and behind and still see the band, he was much more right hand dominant then doing a lot of his ride work with his right hand - he also dropped a lot of sticks!! which actually made me feel good --- I'm a drummer and it always freaked me out when I'd drop a stick,,,, but not anymore."
**
43. Charles Duckett Jr., 2018
"Horace quotes the Wes Montgomery tune "Road Song" in his solo at 4:08. Intentional? Subliminal? It is a simple lick, possibly random. I doubt that though. Horace knew Wes. Helped put Wes on the "map" when he sat in with Horace's group and blew people away. Not sure what year, I would guess late 50's."
**
44. Umohibom Ette, 2018
"Hard bop at it’s finest. Much love."
**
45. Ewerb7, 2018
"Just wonderful! Great playing all around. Classic footage of a wonderful performance. God, how I love jazz!"
**
46. richard von schiltz, 2018
"It is most wonderful for a musician of very high caliber to give honor to his father. Loving one's father and announcing that publicly for Horace speaks volumes to me. Thank you! This is also one of my favorite pieces that Silver so beautifully portrays."
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment