Horace Silver

Horace Silver's piano made hard bop swing with the blues: punchy, funky and full of gospel feeling and Latin rhythm. A founding member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, he went on to lead his own quintets on Blue Note for more than 25 years, writing tunes so catchy they became standards, from 'The Preacher' and 'Doodlin'' to 'Señor Blues'.

Song for My Father, inspired by his Cape Verdean father and a trip to Brazil, is his best-known record, and its title track's bass line was borrowed for Steely Dan's 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number'. Blowin' the Blues Away shows his quintet at full stretch.