Shirl

Horace Silver (piano), Doug Watkins (bass) and Louis Hayes (drums). From the album 6 Pieces of Silver (1957).

After recording as a studio musician for three years, in 1959 Silver decided to concentrate on his own group with his own musicians and his first album was Finger Poppin’. By the early 1960s, Silver had influenced numerous groups and was highly sought after in jazz clubs.

The group’s last album was recorded in 1963. In 1964 he formed a new quintet, whose tenor saxophone was Joe Henderson, with whom he recorded his most famous album, Song for My Father. During the mid-1960s he changed the formation of his groups frequently and in 1968 he toured Europe.

This theme is played in a trio, Silver accompanied only by Watkins and Hayes at medium-slow tempo. Silver performs slowly, without rushing. His melodic lines are simple and he enjoys every note. Suddenly he increases the volume by hitting the piano keys harder, but the solo is still slow, it seems as if he is telling a story. Little by little he increases the speed of the phrases, as if he wanted to reach the peak of a novel, but then the tranquility returns and the theme ends.