Horace Silver obituary

Bebop crashed into prominence during the 1940s, and over the next decade evolved as two sharply contrasting forms the quietly intricate and relaxed style known as cool jazz and an earthier and more explicitly African-rooted approach. The pianist and composer Horace Silver, who has died aged 85, took the genre in the latter direction, and pioneered "hard bop" in the 1950s and 60s.

A supreme craftsman, Silver was a member of the Jazz Messengers and formed a succession of quintets whose music appealed to audiences beyond jazz. Tunes entitled Opus de Funk, Doodlin', The Preacher, Home Cookin' and Soulville reflected this new departure, though his mercurial approach transcended any rigid stylistic limits.