horace stmfd advocate

CONCERT TAKES A SHINE TO JAZZ GREAT, NORWALK NATIVE, HORACE SILVER Christina Hennessy, Staff Writer Thursday, January 12, 2012 Stamford, CT

Peter Hand has long admired Horace Silver's music, having gained a deep appreciation for the sound the jazz great coaxed out of his compositions. “There is something unique about the way (Silver puts) all these elements together to make a wonderful sound,” Hand said.

Silver may be best known as a pioneer of the hard bop and soul jazz styles, but his music also revealed gospel, Brazilian and Latin influences, Hand said. "There is definitely a soulfulness ... and it is very blues oriented, but he was influenced by everything he heard," Hand said.

Hand, a jazz guitarist who lives in Port Chester, N.Y., will be bringing his quartet to the Westport Arts Center on Sunday, Jan. 15, to perform and celebrate the music of the Norwalk native. "A lot of his tunes have become jazz standards," Hand said. Among them are "The Preacher,""Nica's Dream,""Senor Blues," "Strollin’”and “Song For My Father.”

As to Sunday's performance, "it will be a nice mix of some of his best-known work, some that are not played all that often and some that are very rare," Hand said. "(Silver) wrote so much music that invited musicians to improvise," Hand added.

Given that this year's jazz series is exploring the influence of soul and gospel on jazz, the center's artistic director for jazz, Brian Torff, said Silver's music fits perfectly. Torff added that he also wanted to honor this homegrown talent, who established himself as one of the most important small group jazz composers in history. "I always appreciated both the craft and the accessibility of his music to the audience," Torff said.

Silver was born on Sept. 2, 1928, in Norwalk, to John Tavares Silver, who came to Connecticut by way of the Cape Verde Islands, and brief sojourns in Massachusetts and New York City. His mother, Gertrude, was born in New Canaan.

In Silver's 2006 autobiography, Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty, the award-winning musician wrote about his childhood, his love of music and his desire to become a famous musician. While in high school, he often would make such a wish on hot summer nights at Calf Pasture Beach, as the moon shone on the water.

He wrote: "Even with my jobs, I would practice the piano and the tenor all week long and then hope and pray that I'd get a gig or two on the weekend so I could try out some of the things I'd been practicing.

"I dreamed my dreams of becoming a great and famous musician, playing and traveling all over the world. I said to myself, `One of these days, I'm going to make records. And when the people put the needle down on the record and play, about a quarter of an inch in, they will say, `That's Horace Silver -- I recognize his style.' "

After graduating from Norwalk High School in 1947, Silver eventually got to play, and record, with many jazz greats, such as tenor saxophonists Stan Getz and Lester "Prez" Young, drummers Art Blakey and Kenny Clarke, bassist Charles Mingus, trumpeter Miles Davis and alto saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker. Silver eventually dropped tenor sax to hone his skill as a pianist, playing with many small ensembles that gained fame, such as the Jazz Messengers, as well as his trio and quintet.

"Silver ... was a great improviser," Hand said. "He was a great accompanist to the musicians in the group ... he would make everyone play their best."

Silver had a long relationship with jazz label Blue Note Records, releasing many albums from the early 1950s to the 1970s, including 1964's "Song for My Father," with his quintet. After spending much of his career in New York City, Silver moved to California in the 1970s, where he still lives, according to his website. In 1996, he returned to Norwalk High School to be honored for his life's work. Efforts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful.

Hand said he was first attracted to Silver's music in the '60s and '70s, while playing as a blues guitarist in various bands. Then, while attending Boston's Berklee College of Music, he immersed himself in the music of the jazz greats, including Silver. Hand majored in jazz composition and arranging.

Over the course of his career, Hand has written more than 230 compositions and more than 350 arrangements for all manner of groups, from jazz combos to choirs and symphonic orchestra. In 2005 Hand launched his big band, which four years later released The Peter Hand Big Band Featuring Houston Person -- The Wizard of Jazz: A Tribute to Harold Arlen.

When asked whether delving into the work of other musicians affects his own compositions, Hand said he certainly is influenced. "I have my own identity, but you see things that you might not have seen before," he said. "It can inspire you on a lot of different levels."

In the case of Silver, Hand said this is a composer whose style is very distinct. It appears that the Norwalk teen got his wish.

"As soon as you hear it, you know, that's Horace Silver," Hand said.

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