Horace Silver

Horace Silver, an American jazz pianist “famous” for his funky playing style called hard bop, passed away last week at the age of 85.   I put “famous” in  quotes because I didn’t know about Horace Silver until two years ago when I started writing Don Randi’s biography.  When Don was 19, he  listened to Horace Silver records while working as a stock boy at a record distribution company in Los Angeles.  Don was attending the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music but learned a jazz bop technique from those Horace Silver records which became an important influence to his own jazz style of playing keyboards.

I had not heard many Horace Silver tracks before his passing.  Lately XM radio’s jazz station started playing his tunes as tribute, but why have they waited for his death to add him to their playlist?  I actually heard a couple of Horace Silver tunes several months ago on an internet radio station, Swiss Groove, which I listen to while I play Second Life.  Swiss Groove is a  great jazz and jazz fusion internet radio station that is a wonderful respite for me to the boring, under inspiring music I hear at the virtual clubs in Second Life and they probably have been playing Horace Silver for a long time .  But I digress…

You can certainly find many great web sites that will give you a full biography on Horace Silver, but if you never heard him before, just  listen to this recording and enjoy.

Pretty Eyes

Five Ways to Get High

Good music gets me high, but I admit that I have enjoyed listening to music while high on other substances. Not a lot of famous music artists live as long as Horace Silver did, and considering many died due to years of substance abuse, it is worth looking into natural ways of feeling euphoric.  We have so much to live for and to create, so if you are struggling with staying off substances and wish to feel high again, here are five natural ways for you to turn on…

 

 #horacesilver #swissgroove #donrandi #jazz #music #mentalhealth #naturalhigh