Silver Tenor

Review”Horace Silver stands as one of the last ‘jazz giants’ remaining from the unbelievable efflorescence of bebop-based music in the 1950s. For that reason alone his book would be an necessary contribution. But this is more than a mere essay of a golden age long past. Silver’s prose style is much like his musical style: earthy, vernacular, populist. His distinctive take on the music and the people who play it provides valuable perceptivities into the originative processes of jazz and the social and cultural worlds in which jazz musicians live and work. His recounts of the lessons learned from listening to and playing alongside Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Jimmie Lunceford, and Lester Young, as well as a great deal of lesser-known figures, are exceptionally revealing.” – David Ake, author of Jazz Cultures”

From the Inside Flap”As one of the major figures in the history of jazz, Horace Silver’s reminiscences are priceless. Simply put, the man is a national treasure. Horace’s sensitivity, passions and originative roots emerge in this engaging book, a tribute to his determination and to Phil Pastras’ skill and sensitivity as an editor. It will be celebrated by jazz scholars and fans everywhere.”–Steven Isoardi, author of The Dark Tree and Central Avenue Sounds

“Horace Silver stands as one of the last ‘jazz giants’ remaining from the unbelievable efflorescence of bebop-based music in the 1950s. For that reason alone his book would be an primary contribution. But this is more than a mere essay of a golden age long past. Silver’s prose style is much like his musical style: earthy, vernacular, populist. His distinctive take on the music and the persons who play it provides valuable perceptivities into the originative processes of jazz and the social and cultural worlds in which jazz musicians live and work. His recounts of the lessons learned from listening to and playing alongside Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Jimmie Lunceford, and Lester Young, as well as a lot of lesser-known figures, are particularly revealing.”–David Ake, author of Jazz Cultures

Silver Tenor

Horace Silver is one of the last giants remaining from the unbelievable flowering and originative extension of bebop music that became known as “hard bop” in the 1950s. This freewheeling autobiography of the outstanding composer, pianist, and bandleader takes us from his childhood in Norwalk, Connecticut, through his rise to fame as a musician in New York, to his comfortable life “after the road” in California. During that time, Silver composed an impressive repertoire of tunes that have become standards and recorded a number of classic albums. Well-seasoned with anecdotes with regards to the music, the musicians, and the milieu in which he worked and prospered, Silver’s narrative–like his music–is earthy, vernacular, and intimate. His stories resonate with lessons learned from hearing and playing alongside such legends as Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young. His irrepressible sense of humor combined with his distinguishable spirituality make his account both agreeably diverting and inspiring. Most importantly, Silver’s distinctive take on the music and the people who play it opens a window onto the originative routine of jazz and the social and cultural worlds in which it flourishes.
Let’s Get to the Nitty Gritty also describes Silver’s spiritual awakening in the late 1970s. This transformation found it is expression in the electronic and vocal music of the three-part work called The United States of Mind and ultimately led the musician to begin his own record label, Silveto. Silver details the economic forces that at last persuaded him to put Silveto to rest and to return to the studios of major jazz recording labels like Columbia, Impulse, and Verve, where he continued expanding his catalogue of new compositions and recordings that are at least as impressive as his earlier work.

The Selmer Series III throws a big punch.

The ergonomics of the buttons are amazing. You genuinely play more quickly because of the layout of the keys. Your fingers just fly on this instrument. They are placed on the saxophone in such a natural position. One note flows on your fingers to the next. The side D, E flat, and F keys are positioned so that you may just roll your fingers on them. The G sharp, B, C sharp, and B flat keys are easy to move the left pinky finger on.

The sound that comes out of this saxophone is huge. It may be very earsplitting if blown to it is fullest. This saxophone gives out a nice round sound. The notes sound full. You do not even need a mic with this instrument. Of course having a mic would make it sound even better. It is a nice bright sound.

The altissimo range is beautiful. They come out crisp and clean. There is no fuzziness to the altissimo notes. They are clear as a bell. You may play a G, and G sharp actually clearly. Whereas on a Yamaha student model tenor saxophone you would get galore distortion.

The lower notes are beautiful. When you play the B flat on a sub-tone it may come out in truth deafening but controlled at a sub-tone sound. It is easy to sub-tone a B flat on this instrument. It comes out warm and fuzzy.

This saxophone comes with the option of engraving. The engraving is done by hand and is beautiful. If you get one of these saxophones I would suggest to get the engraving. It is pretty you may look at the engraving by searching through the internet on Selmer saxophones.

This Selmer series III model comes in five colors:

-polished brass, clear lacquered

-polished brass, matte lacquered

-black lacquered

-brushed, clear lacquered a.k.a. Matte

-silver plated

The polished brass matte lacquered only comes without engraving.

There are a great deal of cases you may get for this saxophone. I would suggest to get one with a lock so that no one else may get into your saxophone case.

When playing jazz with this saxophone the saxophone seems to speak to you. You play differently because it gives off a dissimilar sound. You feel dissimilar notes. You listen dissimilar notes. The saxophone tells you what it wants to play.

If you are looking at getting one of these look to spending anyplace from $5,000 for a matte lacquer finish and $15,000 for gold plated.

Silver Tenor Pic

Silver Tenor Pic

Silver Tenor Image

Silver Tenor Picture

Most helpful client reviews

22 of 29 persons found the following review helpful.
A swing and a miss
By George Kaplan
The LAST thing this book does is get to the nitty-gritty. Primarily a string of recollections and anecdotes, this light-as-a-feather book hardly constitutes a proper biography for such an important (and still breathing) figure in the pantheon of jazz.

Pastras’ exploration seems to have consisted of going over to Horace’s house each Sunday for bull sessions. And that’s how the book reads. There are the expected misspellings and typos (Wilt Chamberlin, Carl Burnette, et al) and multiple repetitions of events.

The ARE a lot of interesting tidbits buried here as Horace may be rather the raconteur. His story when it comes to Dizzy Gillespie’s visit to his apartment is touching and his story in regards to being unable to sit in for Otis Spann because he couldn’t play the blues in Muddy’s key signature was both funny and alarming. Horace not competent to play the blues??? His multiple brushes with racism, drug enforcement and police power are chilling.

But largely the book is a name-dropper’s paradise, recounting all of the widely known and esteemed and semi-famous celebrities our boy has met over the past 50 years. He sure has a steel-trap memory! But why he would exhibit such excitement when it comes to a prospect sighting of a has-been former actress walking her dog in Central Park and then need to recount it in his autobiography 40 years later is beyond me.

The curious reader will search in vain for clues to his musical talent (other than tea kettle whistles and the like). Very few of his compositions are even noted much less subjected to a good deal of sort of analysis. Other than Tyrone Washington, for whom he saves some choice invective, very few of his colleagues are discussed in detail, including fabulously Art Blakey. This kinship must have occupied a full chapter. What with regards to Joe Henderson? Woody Shaw? Bob Berg?

The reader is left with a picture of a lonely and fearful man, evidently estranged from his family. (He sees his only son “once or twice a year”!!!) He’s uneducated but yearns for deeper understanding. A fine jazz craftsman, Silver contends with eruptions of artism that apparently mystify and in the long run confound him.

8 of 10 persons found the following review helpful.
GREAT NITTY GRITTY!!!!!!
By Gilbert W. Crampton
Horace Silver’s book reads like a Horace Silver piano solo sounds. This is a down to world statement when it comes to the life and times of a “Jazz Messenger” and survivor of one of the most originative and undocumented eras of Black Music. Horace gives us original hand accounts of what it was like to carry out with Sonny Stitt, Art Blakey, Stan Getz, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Big Nick, Lockjaw Davis, Kenny Clarke and a good deal of others. His anecdotes, like his quoting of dissimilar tunes for the duration of his piano solos, are often humorous and applicable to his central theme, the joys and hardships of life and music. I loved the book from beginning to end. I commend it along with “RACE MUSIC”, by GUthrie P. Ramsey, JR, and “Miles the Autobiography” by Quincy Troupe to all who are mesmerized in the history of African American music and history in the post WWII era.

2 of 2 persons found the following review helpful.
Disappointing
By Francis Lannie
I was genuinely looking forward to starting this book. I have rather a few of Horace’s albums and genuinely like them and was looking forward to reading with regards to his long career.

Disappointingly, I have to agree with one of the other reviewers that there is a lot of listing of personnel in bands for no other reason than listing them. Very seldom do we get any kind of critique or analysis of any aspect of his life. It reads as if Phil Pastras merely transcribed audio tapes of Horace recounting anecdotes and did no more than ascertain that the anecdotes were in chronological order. After the firstborn 100 pages I found it to be very repetitive/formulaic – a brief description of a gig/album session, listing of the personnel, Horace is thankful for the life he has.

No offence to Horace, but if I have to read one more time with regards to how he ‘married Lady Music’ and how music is his life…

A squandered opportunity, this was a probability to pass something of real substance on to the younger generations from somebody who genuinely forged a distinctive path/sound in a crowded artform.

I was thinking regarding getting his book on little combo playing but, based on this, I am worried that I’ll regret buying it. I think I’ll wait for the moment.

Sorry Horace.

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