You may have heard by now that legendary jazz pianist and composer Horace Silver died last week at the age of 85. He is best known for his funky, earthy playing and his wonderful compositions that defined the style known as "soul jazz." Combining blues, jazz, and gospel sounds, his tunes have a classic feel-good attitude that has made many of them standards. I went through my old repertoire lists and found the following tunes that the DHS Jazz Band and after-school combos have played over the years:
- Nica's Dream
- Strollin'
- Nutville
- Tokyo Blues
- Summer in Central Park
- The Preacher
- Song for My Father
- Filthy McNasty
- The Jody Grind
- Senor Blues
- Silver's Serenade
- Sister Sadie
That last one has really been a staple of our repertoire, with 6 performances over the last 26 years. It's currently in our book, so you can expect to hear it in the fall. We've played "Song for My Father" almost as many times, including this past spring with Tuesday Afternoon Jazz. There are very few composers whose music we've played as much--John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Charles Mingus. That's impressive company.
If you'd like to find out why Horace Silver is so highly esteemed in jazz circles, check out this greatest hits album:
Photo: Horace Silver by Dmitri Savitski 1989, CC BY-SA 3.0
