Bad news for Horace.....

[Paul Warburton]

In case you haven't heard, Horace Silver is suffering from Alzheimers. Anybody who doesn't list him an influence in this music needs to go back and get re-influenced, IMO.


http://www.answers.com/topic/horace-silver

http://www.horacesilver.com/ Turn up yer speakers!

[johnz]

I'd heard rumors... Sometimes words don't express.

[Nathan Parker]

That is a tragedy.

After looking through those websites, and seeing all that he has done, it is incredible that a person can be so blatantly genius, and remain so humble. A real lesson for me.

[Treyzer]

That is truly sad. We've had some experience with this disease in our family; very tragic! He was/is a great musician and bandleader!

[Michael Case]

How sad, Horace was one of the first jazz cats I was exposed to. I love his music.

[drew_bassmore]

Originally Posted by Treyzer

That is truly sad. We've had some experience with this disease in our family; very tragic! He was/is a great musician and bandleader!

I have had similar experience losing family members to the disease. We try to donate to the Alzheimer's Association each year, even if a token amount.

Tragic indeed! Horace's Blue Note era recordings have become a tremendous influence, and between he and Bobby Timmons, is what a Trumpet player friend of mine tries to get piano players to pay attention to when approaching the Hard Bop catalog.

[MR PC]

This is sad news. Horace Silver has always made music without stylistic boundries. He's a musician's musician, and composer's composer, and a players player on the bandstand.

The cruelty of Alzheimers is the confusion and terror it fosters.

I just hope that he's getting all of the love he deserves, each and every second.

I'm sending mine.

[Paul Warburton]

When I was about 16 I used to sit by the hour and listen to his comping behind the soloists. His comping says more than many solos to me. That little jabbing and rolling effect back there always kills me. The shout choruses are like a combination of big band/nasty/church stuff. Sounds strange, I know, but he covered it all.
I fell immediately in love with him.......Filthy McNasty to Juicy Lucy.........

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

His comping says more than many solos to me. That little jabbing and rolling effect back there always kills me. The shout choruses are like a combination of big band/nasty/church stuff... he covered it all.

Yes. Doesn't sound strange at all to me. Utterly original.

I always thought he was the coolest. Just the whole way he plays, the way he is..... different instrument, but he's a big reason I wanted to be a jazz musician.

[Don Higdon]

Back in the days of vinyl, I had more LP's of Horace than any other musician, including Miles.
I'm with Wallbutton on Horace's comping. It was an art form.

[jweiss]

My best wishes to him and his family.

Where would we be without his wonderful compositions:

Sister Sadie
Strollin'
The Preacher
Song for My Father
The Jody Grind

And the list goes on.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by jweiss

The Jody Grind

Probably my favorite. Love that tune.

[bribass]

I always especially loved Silver Serenade among others.

[davidAaronCarte]

Man, that's rough ****
I finally got my ass into Horace real recenty and haven't been listening to a whole lot else for the last week
The Stylings of Silver is in the CD player right now (just started a lift when I saw this post)
His writing for that quintet is like one great big band

[Paul Warburton]

I started this Thread because I had just posted in the "What are you listening to" Thread under Recordings. I turned a friend on to Horace awhile back. I was telling her about the origin of the word "funk". I first started to use it back when I first heard Horace use it in "Opus De Funk". He might have invented the word for all I know. It's become a household word and people have no idea where it came from.
BTW, another thing I love about his writing is some of the trio ballad stuff where he wrote the bass figures in unison with his left hand. That's some beauty right there too.
First time I played "Juicy Lucy" (one of my favorites) a waitress came up and asked the name of the tune. She loved the tune but when I told her the title she got all outraged. I thought that was really funny. I made sure to announce it every time we played it from then on.
BTW, I've been playing "Peace" as a bass solo for about twenty years. My little arrangement has the bass stating the melody of "Peace" on the in head then double up after choruses and play "Blue Silver" on the out. Of course, that's Blue Mitchell's line on "Peace".

EDIT: From what I've been hearing, the family is taking great and loving care with him.

[arnoldschnitzer]

That's really sad to hear. I've always loved Horace's music. One of my first and favorite jazz albums was "Persuit of the 27th Man", which features a jammin Phrygian montuno anchored by Bob Cranshaw on Fender, on I think the title tune. In 1975 or so, Horace's touring bassist left the band, and I won the audition to join the group. I had prepared by playing along with every Horace album I could get my hands on, and copying all the bass lines. Which was a good thing, because his note-writing was nearly illegible. Unfortunately, a few days after my first rehearsal, the old bassist came to his senses and re-joined the band. I think he looked more appropriate for the upcoming European tour. The band at that time had Tom Harrell on trumpet, Bob Berg on sax, and Jeff Brillinger on drums. Horace and those great sidemen could not have been nicer to me, despite my ultimate disappointment. I wish Horace peace.

[Paul Warburton]

You're an amazing cat, Arnold.

(I love your closing sentence).

[RD]

I read somewhere that Horace coined the term "funk," as it applies to music, in 1955 or so.
One of the great multi-instrumentalists, piano and tenor sax.
I'll join the chorus and wish him peace and wellness!
RD

[TroyK]

Great bandleader and arranger. I appreciate that he always seemed to be priortizing creating music rather than showcasing playing (which was never sub-par, by the way).

Alzheimers is a brutal disease. Tragic to see someone slip into.

[Monte]

Aww man, this brings a real poignant edge to Christian McBride's "biggest regret" that he talks about here. Missing his chance to play with Horace.

Towards the bottom of pg8 and continued on pg9.