Alan Silva
Encyclopedia
Alan Silva is an American free jazz
double bass
ist and keyboard player
.
/Portuguese
mother, Irene da Silva, and a black Bermudian father known only as "Ruby". At the very height of racial segregation in the United States
, Silva emigrated to the United States at the age of five with his mother, eventually acquiring U.S. citizenship
by the age of 18 or 19. He adopted the stage name
of Alan Silva in his twenties.
Silva was quoted in a Bermudan newspaper in 1988 as saying that although he left the island at a young age, he always considered himself Bermudian. He was raised in the Harlem
neighborhood of New York City
, where he first began studying the trumpet
, and moved on to study the upright bass.
Silva is known as one of the most inventive bass players in jazz and has performed with many of the great names in the world of avant-garde jazz
, including Cecil Taylor
, Sun Ra
, Albert Ayler
, Sunny Murray
, and Archie Shepp
.
Silva performed in 1964's October Revolution as a pioneer in the free jazz
movement, and for Ayler's Live in Greenwich Village album. He has lived mainly in Paris
since the early 1970s, where he formed the Celestrial Communication Orchestra, a group dedicated to the performance of free jazz with various instrumental combinations. In the 1990s he picked up the electronic keyboard
, declaring that his bass playing no longer surprised him. He has also used the electric violin
and electric sarangi
on his recordings.
Since around 2000 he has performed more frequently as a bassist and bandleader
, notably at New York City's annual Vision Festivals.
with Sun Ra
with Cecil Taylor
with Sunny Murray
with Shipen Lebzelter
with Archie Shepp
with Grachan Moncur III
with Dave Burrell
with Jimmy Lyons
with Francois Tusques
with Frank Wright
with Bobby Few
with Bill Dixon
with Franz Koglmann
with Andrew Hill
with the Globe Unity Orchestra
with Abdelhai Bennani
with Itaru Oki
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
ist and keyboard player
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
.
Biography
Silva was born a British subject to an AzoreanAzores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
/Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
mother, Irene da Silva, and a black Bermudian father known only as "Ruby". At the very height of racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
, Silva emigrated to the United States at the age of five with his mother, eventually acquiring U.S. citizenship
Citizenship in the United States
Citizenship in the United States is a status given to individuals that entails specific rights, duties, privileges, and benefits between the United States and the individual...
by the age of 18 or 19. He adopted the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of Alan Silva in his twenties.
Silva was quoted in a Bermudan newspaper in 1988 as saying that although he left the island at a young age, he always considered himself Bermudian. He was raised in the Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
neighborhood of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he first began studying the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, and moved on to study the upright bass.
Silva is known as one of the most inventive bass players in jazz and has performed with many of the great names in the world of avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
, including Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
, Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
, Sunny Murray
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray is one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.-Biography:...
, and Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
.
Silva performed in 1964's October Revolution as a pioneer in the free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
movement, and for Ayler's Live in Greenwich Village album. He has lived mainly in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
since the early 1970s, where he formed the Celestrial Communication Orchestra, a group dedicated to the performance of free jazz with various instrumental combinations. In the 1990s he picked up the electronic keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
, declaring that his bass playing no longer surprised him. He has also used the electric violin
Electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
and electric sarangi
Sarangi
The Sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India which is originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition...
on his recordings.
Since around 2000 he has performed more frequently as a bassist and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, notably at New York City's annual Vision Festivals.
As leader
- Luna Surface (Alan Silva and The Celestrial Communication Orchestra) (BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - Seasons (Alan Silva and The Celestrial Communication Orchestra) (BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - My Country (Leo)
- Skillfullness (ESP Disk)
- Inner Song (Center of the World)
- In Situ (as "Take Some Risks", Adda)
As sideman
with Albert AylerAlbert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
- Albert Ayler in Greenwich VillageAlbert Ayler in Greenwich VillageAlbert Ayler In Greenwich Village is a 1967 live album by free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler. It was his first album for Impulse! Records, and is regarded as probably being his best album on that label....
(Impulse!) - Love CryLove CryLove Cry is a 1968 album by jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler released on Impulse! Records.-Tracklisting:#Love Cry 3:54#Ghosts 2:45# Omega 3:14# Dancing Flowers 2:19# Bells 3:07# Love Flower 3:30# Love Cry ? 7:13# Zion Hill 4:13...
(Impulse!)
with Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
- Sun Ra-Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black HaroldFeaturing Pharoah Sanders & Black HaroldFeaturing Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold is a jazz album by Sun Ra, recorded live in 1964, but not released until 1976, on Ra and Alton Abraham's El Saturn label....
(Saturn) - Nuit de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 1 (Shandar)
- Nuit de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 2 (Shandar)
- It's After the End of the World (MPS/BASF)
- Out In Space (MPS)
with Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
- Unit StructuresUnit StructuresUnit Structures is a 1966 album by Cecil Taylor released on the Blue Note label. The Allmusic Review by Scott Yanow states "Taylor's high-energy atonalism fit in well with the free jazz of the period but he was actually leading the way rather than being part of a movement.....
(Blue NoteBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
) - Conquistador!Conquistador!Conquistador! is a 1966 album by Cecil Taylor released on the Blue Note label. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "During the two lengthy pieces, Lyons' passionate solos contrast with Dixon's quieter ruminations while the music in general is unremittingly intense...
(Blue NoteBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
) - Soundtrack Ferrari (CBSCBS RecordsCBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
/Sony) - It is in the Brewing LuminousIt is in the Brewing LuminousIt is in the Brewing Luminous is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded at Fat Tuesdays, NYC, on February 8 & 9, 1980 and released on the Hat Hut label. The album features performances by Taylor with Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen, Alan Silva, Jerome Cooper and Sunny Murray...
(hat HutHathut RecordsHathut Records is a Swiss record label specialising in jazz and contemporary classical music.Founded in 1975 by Werner X. Uehlinger to document the work of saxophonist / trumpeter Joe McPhee...
)
with Sunny Murray
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray is one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.-Biography:...
- Sunny Murray (ESP Disk)
- Big Chief (PathePathé RecordsPathé Records was a France-based international record label and producer of phonographs, active from the 1890s through the 1930s.- Early years :...
) - Hommage to Africa (BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - Sunshine (BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - Aigu-Grave (Marge)
- Firmanence w/ Burton Greene (Fore)
with Shipen Lebzelter
- Rock and Other Four Letter Words (ColumbiaColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
)
with Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
- Live at the Pan-African FestivalLive at the Pan-African FestivalLive at the Pan-African Festival is a live recording of Archie Shepp's performance in Algiers on July 29–30, 1969, when his free jazz band was complemented by a section of traditional North-African musicians.-Track listing:All songs arranged by Shepp....
(BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - Poem for MalcolmPoem for MalcolmPoem for Malcolm is a jazz album by Archie Shepp. Recorded only two days after Yasmina, a Black Woman, it again features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This time, the tone is resolutely set to avant garde and free jazz, with a political edge in the all but explicit tribute to Malcolm X...
(BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
)
with Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III is an American jazz trombonist who has mostly played free jazz, as well as being a prolific composer. He is the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.-Biography:...
- New Africa (BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
)
with Dave Burrell
Dave Burrell
Davis Burrell is an American jazz instrumentalist, most notably on the piano. He has worked for many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray.- Biography :...
- EchoEcho (Dave Burrell album)Echo is a studio album released by jazz pianist Dave Burrell. It was recorded on August 13, 1969 and first released as an LP album by BYG Actuel...
(BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
) - After LoveAfter LoveAfter Love is a compilation live album released by jazz pianist Dave Burrell. It was released on March 15, 2005 by Universal International. A week earlier, the solo album Margy Pargy by Burrell was released. The two songs were recorded during the "legendary Parisian sessions of 1969-1970"...
(America)
with Jimmy Lyons
Jimmy Lyons
Jimmy Lyons was an alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit.-Biography:...
- Other Afternoons (BYG ActuelBYG ActuelBYG Actuel was a French record label specializing in free jazz. The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.-History:...
)
with Francois Tusques
- Intercommunal Music (Shandar)
with Frank Wright
Frank Wright (jazz musician)
Frank Wright was a free jazz musician known for his frantic style of tenor saxophone.Wright was born in Grenada, Mississippi. He was originally a bass player, working with B. B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland among others....
- Center of the World (Center of the World)
- Last Polka in Nancy? (Center of the World)
- Solos & Duets w/ Bobby Few (Sun RecordsSun RecordsSun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
)
with Bobby Few
Bobby Few
Bobby Few is an American jazz pianist.Few was raised in Shaker Heights, a neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and studied classical piano. He knew Albert Ayler as a youth, and the pair studied jazz and played together in high school...
- More Or Less Few (Center of the World)
- Rhapsody in Few (Black Saint)
- Solos & Duets w/ Frank WrightFrank Wright (jazz musician)Frank Wright was a free jazz musician known for his frantic style of tenor saxophone.Wright was born in Grenada, Mississippi. He was originally a bass player, working with B. B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland among others....
(Sun RecordsSun RecordsSun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
)
with Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon was an American musician, composer, visual artist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in the free jazz movement. He played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverberation as part of his trumpet playing.-Biography:Dixon hailed from...
- Considerations 1 (Fore)
- Bill Dixon In Italy, Volume One (Soul Note)
- Bill Dixon In Italy, Volume Two (Soul Note)
- November 1981 (Soul Note)
with Franz Koglmann
Franz Koglmann
Franz Koglmann is an Austrian jazz composer. He performs on both the trumpet and flugelhorn in a variety of contexts, most often within avant-garde jazz and third stream contexts...
- Opium For Franz (Pipe)
with Andrew Hill
Andrew Hill
Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.Hill is recognized as one of the most important innovators of jazz piano in the 1960s...
- Strange SerenadeStrange SerenadeStrange Serenade is an album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill recorded in 1980 and released on the Italian Soul Note label. The album features three of Hill's original compositions and one written by Laverne Hill performed by a trio.-Reception:...
(Soul Note)
with the Globe Unity Orchestra
Globe Unity Orchestra
The Globe Unity Orchestra is a free jazz ensemble.Globe Unity was formed in autumn 1966 with a commission received by Alexander von Schlippenbach from the Berlin Jazz Festival...
- Intergalactic Blow (JAPO)
with Abdelhai Bennani
- Enfance (Marge)
- Entrelacs (Tampon Ramier)
with Itaru Oki
- Paris-Ohraï (Ohraï)
Filmography
- 2001 - Inside Out in the Open (2001). Directed by Alan Roth. Asymmetric Pictures. Distributed by Third World Newsreel.
External links
- Alan Silva discography from Center of the World site
- Alan Silva interviews by Dan Warburton, from Paris Transatlantic site
- "Free Man: Alan Silva’s 'Conductions'", by Jon Garelick (Boston Phoenix, February 27-March 6, 2003
- FMP releases