Pianist, producer, teacher, and (with Art Blakey) co-founder of
The Jazz Messengers - they were an attempt to return
jazz to a party-music aesthetic in the age of
bebop hermeticism; the bluesy, funky results helped usher in the
hard bop era, and established a sound that would be associated with Silver, the Messengers, and
Blue Note Records for many years. On his own, he had several hits, like "Song for My Father", and many have apprenticed in his quintets.
Editors note:
Horace Silver died of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York, on June 18, 2014. He was 85 years old.