Horace Silver discusses his early musical influences

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Horace Silver discusses his influence on jazz

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Horace Silver discusses musical inspiration

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Q: “What was the musical atmosphere around [Connecticut] when you were growing up? Was there a lot of music and a lot of opportunity for you to play?”

A: “Horace Silver: No, well, the kind of music I played around there basically was ... well, there was one Black night club there that once a week on a Saturday, we had a gig there, you know. And we played for the floor shows. They had a strip dancer and a comedian and a singer, you know, usually on the show. But then we would play for dancing and while playing for dancing, we could play some jazz, you know, as long as it wasn't too fast, you know, the tempo were reasonable.”

Interviewer: “You start at late 40's at a time.”

Horace Silver: “You could dance the jitterbugging to these, you know, pieces, if it was of reasonable tempo, you know. And the other times, you know, we get together in somebody's house and have jam sessions or something like that. But the only other gigs around my area beside that one little gig where we could play some jazz, the only other gigs were like playing in bars, you know, like the White bars that were in my town. I used to play with White musicians in these White bars and very little jazz you could play there. You know, you had to play 'Melancholy Baby', for example, you know, or 'Stardust' or whatever the standard pop tunes were, you know, which was okay, too. That was good training.”