”Six pieces of Silver” hette plattan med pianisten Horace Silver som fångade mitt öra en dag på sextiotalet. Gick man på gymnasiet så var det inte bara Liverpool som gällde. Även jazz, och lite senare även klassiskt. Så här efteråt blandar man säkert i minnet ihop de influenser som fick en att treva sig fram i en viss musikalisk riktning. På spaning efter en egen smak. Processen liknar jakten på det fulländade vinet. Ett glas San Giovese? Eller maträtten som du aldrig tröttnar på – som får det att vattnas i munnen bara du tänker däruppå: Janssons frestelse?

Hörde jag Silver på Voice of America på min radio Lucille? Jag har visst skrivit så tidigare. Det kan ha varit på Radio Free Europe också, men knappast radio Luxemburg. I alla fall, Horace Silver spelade ”Song for my father”, och det stack ut, det liknade inget jag hade hört tidigare. Det var bra, och Horace bakom pianot dirigerade kombon. Det ligger idag flera inspelningar av låten med Horace på YouTube – både inspelningen från Köpenhamn och Montreux är super. Jag lägger ut en länk nedan till Köpenhamnsversionen. En kort fin introduktion av en ung Horace! Och som en extra krydda efteråt – några av de kommentarer som lyssnare bjuder oss på 🙂

“Recorded live in Copenhagen, Denmark, April 1968. Song for My Father was recorded in October 1964 and released on the Blue Note label. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver’s father, John Tavares Silva, to whom the title song was dedicated. ‘My mother was of Irish and Negro descent, my father of Portuguese origin’, Silver recalls in the liner notes, ‘He was born on the island of Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands.’ The album line-up differs from the Copenhagen musicians here.” (YouTube, ukvibeorg)

”RIP Horace Silver. He was a dear friend for over 34 years and one of the most enlightened and gifted souls on this planet. This man and his music, that poured from the depth of his heart, deserve to be celebrated.”

“Bennie Maupin on tenor sax. Bill Hardman trumpet, Johnny Williams bass and Billy Cobham drums.”

”If musicians were compensated on skill alone, these men would be billionaires.”

“I love what you can discover when you fall down a hole on YouTube. This is gorgeous.”

“Glad my Dad introduced me to jazz when i was 8. I am 62 now, love you daddy.”

“Mr. Modesty, no pyrotechnics, no highbrow deconstructions, just plain simple joy. Every note pregnant with life.”

“What a classic! What an amazing genius of simplicity in art Horace Silver created in his playing. Sometimes less is better. Something we all need to remember.”

”This was the first album I bought with my own money as a kid in 1964, I am now 73 how time fly but this still sounds great and I’d buy it now if I did not have it. Wow take a moment and just listen to it, how could you not get into it or let it get into you ? I miss this level of jazz and musicians.”

“An honor to be brazilian and hear that this song was inpired on a trip to my country! Greetings! Great tune!”

”I heard this piece for the first time in the early 80s when I was 15 on a jazz music Radio program in Lagos Nigeria. It was dark in the room. I was alone lying in my bed. By the time it ended I had tears in my eyes. Everything about this piece is perfect. RIP Horace Silver.”

”Whew! Man when they kick it into the double time during the piano solo, this thing smokes and takes off even more so – Cobham is on fire. As I listen to this it is approximately 49 years after the concert was recorded and it just sound so good! Who cares if it’s in black and white – we get it, ¿no? Dig the comping behind the trumpet and tenor solos – pushed the rhythm even more so.” / (YouTube) jeha