Alan Silva
Alan Silva ( Alan Treadwell DaSilva; born January 29, 1939 on Bermuda ) is an American musician of the Creative jazz and free improvisation music. He is best known as the bassist, was one of the bassists of the early free jazz and often initiated large-scale ensembles.
Life and work
Silva came at the age of five years in the United States and grew up in Harlem, where he heard the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the Church. As a child he had piano and violin lessons, and later also played drums and finally trumpet; for three years he studied with Donald Byrd. Then he studied at New College of Music and became a member of the experimental ensemble; about 1962 he switched to the double bass. With Burton Greene in 1962 he founded the Free Form Improvisation Ensemble. On his first album for ESP-Disk in 1965, he was heard on the violin, cello and piano. He worked with representatives of the jazz avant-garde such as Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor ( Unit Structures, Conquistador! , Both 1966), Sun Ra, Albert Ayler ( Love Cry ), Sunny Murray and Archie Shepp. In the late 1960s he came to Paris, where he founded the Celestial Communication Orchestra and the Celestial strings. With Frank Wright, Bobby Few and Muhammad Ali, he formed the group the Center of the World. He also was a member of the Quartet of Alexander von Schlippenbach since the mid- 1970s. In 1976 he founded with Jo Maka, the Institute Art Culture Perception ( IACP ), of which he was until 1990. Further projects with Jimmy Lyons, in 1980 followed again with Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon and also with Andrew Hill. With the Globe Unity Orchestra, he joined during the 1980s as well as on with Burton Greene.
In the 1990s he turned increasingly to the synthesizer and trained with the German trombonist Johannes Bauer and the British percussionist Roger Turner, the traditional trio; He also played with Turner and Gary Todd and TTT. More recently he has worked on multimedia projects.
Disco printing specifications
- Luna Surface with Anthony Braxton, Dave Burrell, Leroy Jenkins, Archie Shepp, Grachan Moncur III, Malachi Favors, Claude Delcloo, Beb Guérin, Kenneth Terroade, Bernard Vitet ( BYG Actuel, 1969)
- Seasons with Lester Bowie, Dave Burrell, Jerome Cooper, Joseph Jarman, Joachim Kühn, Steve Lacy, Roscoe Mitchell, Robin Kenyatta, Michel Portal, Malachi Favors, Irène Aebi, Ronnie Beer, Kent Carter, Dieter Gewissler, Bobby Few, Beb Guérin, Oliver Johnson, Don Moye Famoudou, Alan Shorter, Bernard Vitet, Jouk Minor, 1970
- Alan Silva / Celestrial Communications Orchestra: The Shout - Portrait for a Small Woman ( Sun Records, 1978, with Georges Menousek, Georges Gaumont, Jo Maka, François Cotinaud, Jouk Minor, Denis Colin, Robert Garrison, Pierre Sauvageot, Bernard Vitet, Itaru Oki, Adolf Winkler, Michael Zwerin, Pierre Faure, Jacques Dolias, Catherine Lienhardt, Bruno Girard, Helene Bass, Pierre Jacquet, Armand Assouline, Michel Coffi, Muhammad Ali )
- Take Some Risks with Bruno Girard, Misha Lobko, Didier Petit, Roger Turner, 1989
- In the tradition of Johannes Bauer, Roger Turner, 1993
- A Hero's Welcome: Pieces For Rare Occasions with William Parker, 1998
- Emancipation Suite with William Parker, Edward Jordan, 1999
- Transmissions with Oluyemi Thomas, 2000
- Skill Fullness with Karl Berger, Dave Burrell, Becky Friend, Mike Ephron, Lawrence Cooke, 2001
- Alan Silva and the Sound Visions Orchestra with JD Parran, Art Baron, Edward Jordan, Bill Lowe, Raphe Malik, Steve Swell, Joe Daly, Andrew Lamb, Rob Brown, Mark Hennen, Jackson Krall, Sabir Mateen, Karen Borca, Taylor Ho Bynum, Ori Kaplan, Stephen Haynes, Elliott Levin, Wilber Morris, Mark Taylor, Joe Daley, 1999
- HR57 Treasure Box with Baikida Carroll, Wilber Morris, Marshall Allen, JD Parran, Roy Campbell, Itaru Oki, Joseph Bowie, Joseph Daley, Bobby Few, Bill Lowe, Warren Smith, Steve Swell, Francis Wong, Jackson Krall, Kidd Jordan, Oluyemi Thomas, Sabir Mateen, Karen Borca, Daniel Carter, John Bauer, Ijeoma Thomas, 2003
Lexigraphic entries
- Philippe Carles, Jean -Louis Comolli: Free Jazz / Black Power. Frankfurt am Main in 1974.
- Ian Carr et al: Jazz Rough Guide. Stuttgart 1999.
- Martin Kunzler: jazz lexicon. Volume 2 Reinbek 2002; ISBN 3-499-16513-9.