Silver, Horace

Silver, Horace

(born Sept. 2, 1928, Norwalk, Conn., U.S.) U.S. jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Silver performed with Stan Getz in 1950–51 before leading his own trio in 1952. With Art Blakey he led the Jazz Messengers from 1954, then formed his own quintet in 1956, performing his own compositions in arrangements that provided the template for much of the hard bop (see bebop) of the 1950s and '60s. Influenced by Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, Silver combined the sophistication of bebop with the earthiness of the blues in compositions such as “The Preacher,” “Opus de Funk,” and “Sister Sadie.”

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Silver, Horace (Ward Martin Tavares) (1928–  ) jazz musician; born in Norwalk, Conn. An influential pianist and composer, he helped to develop and popularize the hard-bop style in the mid-1950s. He was a sideman with Stan Getz and Coleman Hawkins between 1950 and 1953, a cofounder of the Jazz Messengers in 1954, and the leader of his own groups thereafter.