hOrAce silVEr

/// The Jody Grind ///

The past few months have ….

been a blur. I’ve been so busy preparing to release the new ‘River Song’ album this fall that I’ve got a backstock of performances that I’ve done with other bands.

This video is from a month or so ago, with Keith Chason’s Quartet, live at Chris’ Jazz Cafe. Right here in Philadelphia !

I’ve known Keith for a few years and have shared some of his other clips (which you can watch here), and I always enjoy playing with his group.

For this night, we played a lot of jazz classics. Although my music is moving away from swing and the bebop era, that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy playing that repertoire and style.

In fact, since I rarely play that way in my band, it makes it all thse more exciting when I get a chance to create in that idiom.

The song we are playing is a classic Horace Silver tune called ‘The Jody Grind’.

Horace is a big influence on me as a composer for a few reasons. First is the fact that you cannot pursue jazz and not come across his music. Second, he achieved success in a way that makes sense to me.

Let me explain …

You see, Horace Silver was NOT the best pianist in the jazz world. To be more specific, he was nowhere near the best pianist.

However, the key to his success was his writing and being a great accompanist.

He was a team player in world of virtuoso’s. He was a Scottie Pippen among many Michael Jordan’s.

I can relate to that. I’m not the best bassist. I am not a virtuoso, but I do know how to create compositions that only I could have created.

I think that is something we can all learn from. Rather than trying to copy what others are doing, what is it that makes us unique? What can we do that nobody else can?

Perhaps that is what our calling is …

NK