Horace Silver, RIP

Death of a pianist

The great jazz pianist Horace Silver has passed away at age 85. For a nice selection of his work, check out Boing Boing's tribute here. Below, hear his band playing "Señor Blues":

Comments

[EDG reppin' LBC]

RIP Horace Silver. Seems like all the good ones have been dying lately. Glad Tracy Morgan was able to cheat death. I always liked Silvers' work on Kenny Dorham's Afro-Cuban album. Especially the sultry Lotus Flower.

[Gene]

Yet another jazz piano great has left the building. I am disappointed I couldn't make it to the Oscar Peterson tribute concert that he and McCoy Tyner put on in Montreal a few years back. RIP Horace.

[DrAwkward]

I love "Song for my Father". Steely Dan admits they took the bass line for Rikki Don't Lose That Number. I suppose it's not stealing if it's an homage.

[Gene]

I suppose it's not stealing if it's an homage.

That's just what Led Zeppelin would have us all believe.

[The Heresiarch]

The man's hands don't move. Compare and contrast:

Hands that move.

[Scarecrow Repair]

I am not a piano player, so my question may be ignorant.

The Chopin piece seems to have a much higher note density; could anyone play that piece without moving their hands that fast?

[The Heresiarch]

Depends on the size of your reach, your flexibility, and your technique. Because the arpeggios are traversing most of the keyboard, most everyone will have to move their hands.

My comment was a tongue-in-cheek remark about the technique of most popular pianists (jazz included). Watch their hands. Most often, only one of them is moving at a time. Now watch someone play a late Beethoven sonata. Those hands are all over the place. And correspondingly, the music is all over the place.

Whether or not you consider that to be a good thing - well, I can't answer that question.

[Scarecrow Repair]

OK, so more to the point -- can you point to videos of the same piece of music, one with busy hands and one with efficient hands?

I have long noticed some pianists move a lot and some don't but never knew how how much is individual style and how much was because of the music.