VOA标准英语2014--爵士乐钢琴家和作曲家贺拉斯银去世

 

Jazz Pioneer Horace Silver Dies 爵士乐钢琴家和作曲家贺拉斯银去世

Jazz pianist and composer Horace Silver, 85, has died in New Rochelle, New York.

Throughout his remarkable¹ career that began in the 1940s, the pianist, composer and arranger always had one goal in mind.

“I try to make people think with my music,” he said in a long, biographical interview from 1981 with jazz writer and photographer Bob Rosenbaum.  

Speaking recently, Rosenbaum recounted the highlights of Silver’s life, which started as the son of an immigrant from Cape² Verde.  

“He grew up in a musical household," he said. "They used to throw parties for the family - you know - on Saturday afternoons - people would come over and play the music that they grew up with in Cape Verde islands.

While he was successful as a pianist, throughout his career, Silver was most revered³ as a composer and arranger.  His strength was drawing from multiple sources and putting them together in the jazz idiom.

“I've always taken a bit of this and a bit of that and blended it together," Silver said. "In the beginning, and I still do dig the Blues⁴, gospel.  I love Latin rhythms.  I love Broadway show music.  Classical music.” 

Silver began playing in clubs in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut.  

“We played for the floor shows -- they had a strip dancer and a comedian⁵ and a singer,” he said.

While the setting was less than ideal for the straight-laced Silver, Rosenbaum points out, the clubs had one key benefit.

“They would bring in name players,” he said.

One was saxophonist Stan Getz, who sat in with the house band one night in 1950.

“He just liked Horace’s playing and he said, ‘Would you come on the road with me?’ and then they were on the road half a year,” Rosenbaum said.

After Silver got off the road with Getz, he took to rehearsing during the days at New York’s famous Birdland jazz club, mainly because he didn’t have a piano of his own. 

But being at Birdland put him on touch with all the jazz greats of the time and it was there, around 1952 that he met drummer Art Blakey and started one of his most important collaborations, the Jazz Messengers.  

“It was really Horace who created the Jazz Messengers," Rosenbaum said. "His presence enabled the establishment of of the Jazz Messengers. They had a very, very together balanced sound.  It created a unit of sound which didn't exist before -- actually, taking the idea of be-bop which is melodically⁶ very exciting and rhythmically⁷ very exciting and adding a front line to it - of horn players - and making it more of an orchestrated sound.”

Working with the Jazz Messengers connected Silver with the legendary⁸ jazz label Blue Note Records, which would be his musical home for the next 25 years.

But Silver’s time at Blue Note ended in disappointment. He left the iconic label and struck out on his own.

Creating his own record labels, Silver dove headlong into music that made people think.  He created a trilogy of experimental compositions with voices and unusual combinations of instruments, and in 1981, he collaborated⁹ with Bill Cosby on a record for kids called “Guides to Growing Up.”

“I think he felt deep inside that it wasn’t just about improvising¹⁰ in clubs and making people happy for an evening, but that he really had something to say with his music,” said Rosenbaum.

And he wanted those messages - above all - to last.

“To try to write music, and record it, perform it in such a manner that it will withstand the test of time,” said Silver.

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

4 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

5 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

6 melodically   

参考例句：

• The leader has also learned to play more melodically. 这位领导人也学会了演奏得更加优美动听。 来自柯林斯例句

7 rhythmically   

adv.有节奏地

参考例句：

• A pigeon strutted along the roof, cooing rhythmically. 一只鸽子沿着屋顶大摇大摆地走，有节奏地咕咕叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Exposures of rhythmically banded protore are common in the workings. 在工作面中常见有韵律条带“原矿石”。 来自辞典例句

8 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

9 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

10 improvising   

即兴创作（improvise的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I knew he was improvising, an old habit of his. 我知道他是在即兴发挥，这是他的老习惯。
• A few lecturers have been improvising to catch up. 部分讲师被临时抽调以救急。