Alan Lee da Silva (born 22 January 1939, in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

) is an American

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

multi-instrumentalist, best known as a

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

ist. He has recorded on keyboards,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

among other instruments.

Biography

Silva was born a British subject to an Azorean/ Portuguese mother, Irene da Silva, and a black Bermudian father known only as "Ruby". He emigrated to the United States at the age of five with his mother, eventually acquiring

U.S. citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constit ...

by the age of 18 or 19. He adopted the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

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 Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

neighborhood of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he first began studying the

, and moved on to study the

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

. Silva is known as one of the most inventive bass players in jazz and has performed with many in the world of

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...

, including

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...

Sunny Murray James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...

, and

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

. Silva performed in 1964's October Revolution in Jazz as a pioneer in the

movement, and for the 1967 live album '' Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village''. Since the early 1970s, Silva has lived mainly in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, where he formed the Celestrial Communication Orchestra, a group dedicated to the performance of free jazz with various instrumental combinations. In the 1990s he picked up the

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument based on keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs and digital audio work ...

, declaring that his bass playing no longer surprised him. He has also used the

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

and electric

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...

on his recordings. In the 1980s, Silva opened a music school I.A.C.P. (Institute for Art, Culture and Perception) in Central Paris, together with François Cotinaud and Denis Colin, introducing the concept of a Jazz Conservatory patterned after France's traditional conservatories devoted to European classical music epochs. Since around 2000, he has performed more frequently as a bassist and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

, notably at New York City's annual Vision Festivals.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

As sideman

with

* '' Albert Ayler in Greenwich Village'' ( Impulse!, 1967) – live recorded in 1966–67 * '' Love Cry'' ( Impulse!, 1968) – recorded in 1966–67 with Abdelhai Bennani * ''Enfance'' (Marge, 1998) * ''Entrelacs'' (Tampon Ramier, 2003) – live recorded in 1999 * ''New Today, New Everyday'' (Improvising Beings, 2012) * ''Free Form Improvisation Ensemble 2013'' (Improvising Beings, 2015) CD with

Dave Burrell Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell (born September 10, 1940) is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray. Biography Born in Middletown, Ohio, United Sta ...

* ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

'' ( BYG Actuel, 1969) * '' After Love'' (America, 1971) – recorded in 1970 with

Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...

* '' Bill Dixon in Italy Volume One'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1980) * '' Bill Dixon in Italy Volume Two'' (Soul Note, 1981) * '' Considerations 1'' (Fore, 1981) * '' November 1981'' (Soul Note, 1982) with Bobby Few * ''More Or Less Few'' (Center of the World) * ''Rhapsody in Few'' (

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italy, Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History ...

) * ''Solos & Duets'' with Frank Wright (

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

) with

* ''

'' ( ESP Disk, 1966) * ''

Big Chief "Big Chief" is a song recorded by Professor Longhair.Berry/Foose/Jones, ''Up from the Cradle of Jazz''. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2009, p. 148. It was released as a single by Watch Records of New Orleans in February, 1965.

'' (

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

, 1969) * ''

Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...

'' ( BYG Actuel, 1969) * '' Homage to Africa'' (BYG Actuel, 1970) * ''Aigu-Grave'' (Marge, 1980) * '' Perles Noires'' Volume 1 (Eremite, 2005) – live recorded in 2002-04 with

* '' Sun Ra-Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold'' (Saturn, 1976) – live recorded in 1964 * ''Nuit de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 1'' (Shandar) * ''Nuit de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 2'' (Shandar) * '' It's After the End of the World'' (MPS, 1970) – live * ''Out In Space'' (MPS) with

* '' Poem for Malcolm'' ( BYG Actuel, 1969) * '' Live at the Pan-African Festival'' ( BYG Actuel, 1971) – live recorded in 1969 with

* '' Unit Structures'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 1966) * ''

Conquistador! ''Conquistador!'' is a 1968 studio album recorded in 1966 by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, released by Blue Note Records. Critical reception Writing for AllMusic, Scott Yanow gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "During the two l ...

'' (Blue Note, 1968) – recorded in 1966 * ''Les Grandes Répétitions'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

, ot released – recorded in 1966 * ''

It is in the Brewing Luminous ''It is in the Brewing Luminous'' is a live album by Cecil Taylor recorded at Fat Tuesdays, NYC, on February 8 and 9, 1980, and released on the Hathut Records, Hat Hut label. The album features performances by Taylor with Jimmy Lyons, Ramsey Ameen ...

'' ( hat Hut, 1981) – live recorded in 1980 with Frank Wright * '' Center of the World'' (Center of the World, 1972) – live * '' Last Polka in Nancy?'' (Center of the World, 1973) – live * ''Solos & Duets'' with Bobby Few (

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, 1975) * '' Unity'' (ESP-Disk, 2006) with others * Jacques Coursil, '' Trails of Tears'' (Sunnyside, 2010) – recorded in 2007-09 * The

Globe Unity Orchestra The Globe Unity Orchestra is a free jazz ensemble. Globe Unity was formed in autumn 1966 with a commission received by Alexander von Schlippenbach from the Berlin Jazz Festival. It had its debut at the Berliner Philharmonie on 3 November combinin ...

, ''Intergalactic Blow'' (JAPO, 1983) *

Burton Greene Burton Greene (June 14, 1937 – June 28, 2021) was an American free jazz pianist born in Chicago, Illinois, though most known for his work in New York City. He explored multiple genres, including avant-garde jazz and the Klezmer medium. Biogra ...

, ''Firmanence'' (Fore, 1980) * Andrew Hill, '' Strange Serenade'' (

, 1980) *

Franz Koglmann Franz Koglmann (born 22 May 1947) is an Austrian jazz composer. He performs on both the trumpet and flugelhorn in most often in avant-garde jazz and third stream. An award-winning composer, Koglmann has performed or recorded with Lee Konitz, Paul ...

and Bill Dixon, '' Opium for Franz'' (Pipe, 1977) – recorded in 1976; 3 tracks reissued on ''

Opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

'' (Between the Lines, 2001) * Shipen Lebzelter, '' Rock and Other Four Letter Words'' ( Columbia, 1968) * Jimmy Lyons, '' Other Afternoons'' ( BYG Actuel, 1970) – recorded in 1969 *

Grachan Moncur III Grachan Moncur III (June 3, 1937 – June 3, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper. Biography Born in New York City, United States, (his paternal gra ...

, '' New Africa'' ( BYG Actuel, 1969) * Itaru Oki, ''Paris-Ohraï'' (Ohraï, 2001) * William Parker, ''

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

'' with Charles Gayle (Splasc(H), 2006) * Francois Tusques, ''Intercommunal Music'' (Shandar, 1971)

Filmography

*2001 �
''Inside Out in the Open''
(2001). Directed by Alan Roth.

References

External links

from Center of the World site

The Celestrial Communication Orchestra
on Discogs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Alan 1939 births Living people 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American double-bassists American jazz double-bassists American jazz keyboardists American male jazz musicians American people of Bermudian descent American people of Azorean descent American people of Portuguese descent Bermudian emigrants to the United States Bermudian jazz musicians Bermudian jazz pianists Bermudian people of Portuguese descent BYG Actuel artists Columbia Records artists ESP-Disk artists American male double-bassists