Alan Silva

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Double bassist, violinist, cellist, pianist



Afree jazz and improvisational musician, American composer/orchestral leader Alan Silva is a master of numerous instruments, among them the violin, cello, synthesizer, piano, and, especially, the double bass. His performances and recordings as a bassist, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, are legendary. During this period, he helped record some of the most explorative releases in improvised music, working with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, Bill Dixon, Frank Wright, Andrew Hill, and Jimmy Lyons. In 1969 he founded his own ensemble, the Celestial Communication Orchestra, organized sessions for smaller group settings, and tried his decidedly uncompromising, fresh approach to music on other instruments, most recently the keyboards.

A British citizen prior to the age of 18, Alan Silva was born in Bermuda on January 22, 1939. His father was originally from Africa, while his mother was a native of Portugal. At age five, he relocated with his family to the New York, spending the remainder of his childhood in Harlem. Influenced by the rich musical culture of the neighborhood, Silva collected jazz recordings and, because he was too young to attend club performances, listened to bebop on the radio. Around 1950 he started taking piano and drum lessons from various musicians who enjoyed the same style. "The Ellington band played our church when I was 12," he recalled in an interview with Dan Warburton for the Wire magazine. "Harlem was progressive—I hate people describing it as a ghetto. There were rent parties, events at church and dancing: you had to dance, to Latin bands as well as bebop."

In the mid-1950s, Silva managed to sneak his way into a jam session featuring one of his favorite artists, Donald Byrd, and asked the renowned trumpeter for private lessons. He bought a trumpet from a pawn shop, began studies with Byrd, and attended several of his mentor's recording sessions. Although both Silva and his teacher eventually realized he would never become a great trumpet player, he remained a pupil of Byrd's for five years.

At age 19 he enrolled at Columbia University to pursue a degree in music education. As a student there he was greatly influenced by the teachings of musicologist Alan Lomax and grew increasingly interested in the concept of collective improvisation, rejecting the idea of prescribed notation. "I believe improvisation is one of the oldest forms of organization," said Silva, as quoted on Vanita and Joe Monks Monastery Bulletin website. "Probably language, poetry, storytelling, all aspects of life is [sic] improvised."

At 23 Silva started studying double bass under the instruction of Ali Richardson. A regular piano-bar player in Greenwich Village, Richardson sparked Silva's interest in the free jazz movement and the music of George Russell, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman. Soon Silva began to distance himself from bebop, a form in which he now believed individual solos were given too much importance. After this, conventional solos never appeared in Silva's own compositions and arrangements; even as leader, he made no exceptions for himself. His goal was to capture the personality of the ensemble as a whole, not unlike the vision of the emerging free jazz leaders. "Ornette was moving outside the system, proposing collective improvisation without piano," he recalled to Warburton. In addition to free jazz musicians, he took notice of other important figures of varied backgrounds such as John Cage, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, and Ravi Shankar.

In 1962, while living in Brooklyn, Silva formed his first group, the Free Form Improvisation Ensemble (FFIE). Members of the collective included pianist Burton Greene, flutist Jon Winter, saxophonist Gary Friedman, trumpeter Eddie Gale, and drummer Clarence Walker. The FFIE's first significant break occurred two years after its formation when Greene secured the group a spot at Norman Seaman's 1964 New Music Festival at New York's Town Hall. Afterwards, trumpeter Bill Dixon invited the members to join the Jazz Composers Guild alongside the likes of Paul and Carla Bley, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Roswell Rudd, Mike Mantler, and Taylor.

Although the guild dissolved, reportedly because Shepp signed with Impulse! Records, Silva continued to work extensively with its former members. He joined Taylor for the demanding 1966 releases Unit Structures and Conquistador, remaining on and off with the pianist's ensemble until 1969. He also played with Sun Ra from 1965 until 1970 and Albert Ayler, from 1966 until 1970. In 1968 Silva stayed in Paris for several months, playing dates with Sunny Murray, Bernard Vitet, and others. He returned to New York in 1969 to found another group, the Celestrial Communication Orchestra (CCO) and that summer joined Shepp, Grachan Moncur III, Clifford Thornton, Dave Burrell, and Murray for a performance at the Pan-African Festival in Algiers. The performance was released under the title Live at the Pan-African Festival on the BYG label.

In 1970 Silva's Celestrial Communication Orchestra released its first effort, Luna Surface. The album followed by a three-record set called Seasons that had been recorded in December of 1970. According to Eremite Records, this compilation is "universally regarded as one of the high water marks in avant-garde jazz" and a prime example of Silva's harmonic concepts. The solos, explained Silva to Warburton, "came naturally out of the primordial sound. Solos were free but had to stay within a certain range so as not to get in the way of each other—what I call 'strata harmony,' a range determined by the note you were playing in the chord. The last section is the densest piece I've ever done, based on trills, with an electroacoustical texture beneath to set up the vibrations. When I heard the tapes, I insisted they release it all, as a triple album."

Subsequently, the Royan Contemporary Music Festival commissioned Silva for its 1971 season. The result, My Country, issued on Leo Records, further solidified Silva's reputation as a composer and orchestra leader. He was, however, unable to hold the large ensemble together. After its dissolution, he briefly worked with Frank Wright's group, Center of the World, then decided to take a break from performing and recording. Because of his interest in music education, in 1975 he cofounded the Institut Art Culture Perception (IACP) in Paris, where he taught improvisation.

While not as active publicly in the 1980s, he appeared on record with Taylor, Andrew Hill, Bill Dixon, and others. He also teamed on cello with percussionist Roger Turner for the 1986 album Take Some Risks. Over time Silva appeared ambivalent about his role as a double bassist, often claiming to have lost his interest in playing the instrument. Upon his return in the 1990s, in fact, he abandoned it in favor of keyboards, on which he experimented with technology and multimedia projects. Beginning with 1993's In the Tradition through 2002's Tone, both trio dates with percussionist Roger Turner and trombonist Johannes Bauer, Silva refrained from playing double bass. Questioned about this decision, he insists that tapes of work on his primary instrument are ready for release; quite possibly, these will surface as soon as colleagues and fans stop asking if his double bass has disappeared forever.

Selected discography

Solo
Alan Silva and the Sound Visions Orchestra, Eremite, 2001.


With Celestial Communication Orchestra
Lunar Surface, BYG, 1969.
Seasons, BYG, 1972.
Desert Mirage, IACP, 1982.
My Country, Leo, 1989.

With others
(With Bobby Few and Frank Wright) Duos, 1975.
(With Burton Greene and Sunny Marry) Firmanence, Fore, 1979.
(With Roger Turner) Take Some Risks, IACP, 1986.
(With Roger Turner and Johannes Bauer) In the Tradition, In Situ, 1993.
(With Oluyemi Thomas) Transmissions, Eremite, 2001.
(With Roger Turner and Johannes Bauer) Tone, FMP, 2002.

Sources

Books
Cook, Richard, and Brian Morton, editors, The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, Penguin, 1998.

Periodicals
Wire, February 2003.

Online
"Alan Silva & Oluyemi Thomas: Transmissions (Eremite)," One Final Note, http://www.onefinalnote.com/issue6/silva.html (August 22, 2003).
"Alan Silva/Oluyemi Thomas: Transmissions," Jazz Weekly, http://www.jazzweekly.com/reviews/asilva_transmissions.htm (August 22, 2003).
"Alan Silva & the Sound Visions Orchestra," Eremite Records, http://www.eremite.com (August 22, 2003).
"Alan Silva Wants His MTV," Vanita & Joe Monks Monastery Bulletin, http://www.monastery.nl/bulletin/silva/silva.html (August 22, 2003).
"Silva/Jordan/Parker: Emancipation Suite #1," Jazz Review, BBC Music, http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/jazz/reviews/silva_emancipation.shtml (August 22, 2003).
  • Genres: Jazz

Biography

A consistently strong accompanist and bassist, Alan Silva played on several recordings during the '60s and '70s, working with many top groups and players. He's a strong soloist, particularly with the bow, and has an assertive stylist. Silva studied piano and violin in his youth, and later attended the New York College of Music. He began playing bass in the early '60s. Silva teamed with Burton Greene in the Free Form Improvisation Ensemble, and participated in the October Revolution in Jazz concert series. He played with Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, Sunny Murray, and Archie Shepp in the late '60s and early '70s, before settling in Europe. Silva formed the Celestrial Communication Orchestra, a group with rotating personnel, and also played with Frank Wright, Bobby Few, and Muhammad Ali (drums). He lived and worked in both Paris and New York during the '70s and '80s, playing and recording with Taylor, Bill Dixon, Andrew Hill, and the Globe Unity Orchestra. He recorded as a leader for BYG and Sun. Silva has no sessions available as a leader, but can be heard on Taylor and Ayler CD reissues. ~ Ron Wynn, Rovi
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Alan Silva

Alan Silva in Belgium, 1969
Background information
Birth name Alan Treadwell da Silva
Born (1939-01-22) 22 January 1939 (age 73)
Bermuda
Genres Free jazz
Occupations Musician, songwriter, bandleader
Instruments Upright bass, keyboards, electronic keyboard, trumpet, electric violin, sarangi
Labels BYG Actuel, ESP Disk, Impulse!, Blue Note, (CBS/Sony, Columbia, Soul Note, Black Saint, JAPO, Hathut, MPS, ESP-Disk
Website Alan Silva discography from Center of the World site

Alan Silva (born Alan Treadwell da Silva, Bermuda, January 22, 1939) is an American free jazz double bassist and keyboard player.

Contents

Biography

Silva was born a British subject to an Azorean/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.[1] 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.

Discography

As leader

  • Luna Surface (Alan Silva and The Celestrial Communication Orchestra) (BYG Actuel)
  • Seasons (Alan Silva and The Celestrial Communication Orchestra) (BYG Actuel)
  • My Country (Leo)
  • Skillfullness (ESP Disk)
  • Inner Song (Center of the World)
  • In Situ (as "Take Some Risks", Adda)
  • The Shout / Portrait from a Small Woman (Sun Records)
  • Inner Song (Center of the World)

As sideman

with Albert Ayler

with Sun Ra

with Cecil Taylor

with Sunny Murray

with Shipen Lebzelter

  • Rock and Other Four Letter Words (Columbia)

with Archie Shepp

with Grachan Moncur III

with Dave Burrell

with Jimmy Lyons

with Francois Tusques

  • Intercommunal Music (Shandar)

with Frank Wright

  • Center of the World (Center of the World)
  • Last Polka in Nancy? (Center of the World)
  • Solos & Duets w/ Bobby Few (Sun Records)

with Bobby Few

with Bill Dixon

  • 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

  • Opium For Franz (Pipe)

with Andrew Hill

with the Globe Unity Orchestra

  • 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.

References

External links


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Mentioned in

In Italy, Vol. 2 (1980 Album by Bill Dixon)
New Africa (1969 Album by Grachan Moncur III)
Bobby Few (Jazz Artist, '60s-2000s)
It Is in the Brewing Luminous (1980 Album by Cecil Taylor)
Emancipation Suite #1 (1999 Album by Alan Silva/Kidd Jordan/William Parker)