Horace Silver Combo Book

missouri_trumpet · Regular Member Joined: 31 Dec 2003 Posts: 51

Hey has anyone here ever read his book? It says it talks about combo playing in general but I wasn't sure if it would be worth it or not to read.

BeboppinFool · Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2004 9:35 pm Post subject:

Never heard of this book, but if anybody knows about small group playing it's Horace. I'd like to read his book someday. Imagine how much he knows after playing with all the heavy cats who have gone through his bands! Not to mention that he played for Miles way back when.

Please give us a report if/when you read this book, okay?

Thanks!

Rich
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Puttin’ On The Ritz

tptguy · Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2004 10:26 pm Post subject:

I have the book in my library and it has some valuable stuff in it. The first 37 pages read like a lecture as Horace gives his opinions on just about all aspects of a composer's life. For example, "Nine-tenths of jazz playing is improvisation. For this, gaining a profound harmonic musical background is essential. You never master harmony." or "Melody should be catchy, easily retained, uplifting, and have a sense of beauty and depth to it. Melodies should not be altered by the performer. They can be interpreted in many different ways but should not be altered. Melody should uplift people."

The remaining 35 pages have 7 complete combo charts fully written out, as I assume Horace would deliver them. Of course, those are worth the $15.00 by themselves. Best regards, Kyle

Larry Smithee · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 4399

Who's the publisher of this book?
Larry

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New Delhi Bessons Bb

tptguy · Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2004 7:26 am Post subject:

Horace Silver, "The Art of Small Combo Jazz Playing, Composing and Arranging", Hal Leonard, 1995. I'm pretty sure I got my copy from Jamey Aebersold.