Faculty Concert: Fumi Tomita, jazz bass
Friday, October 3, 2025, 7:30pm, Bezanson Hall, Free
Faculty Concert: Fumi Tomita, jazz bass
Music to Ease your Disease: The Wellness of Horace Silver
Featuring Mr. Tomita with UMass jazz faculty and guests performing selections from jazz master Horace Silver's United States of Mind trilogy.
Faculty: Jeffrey Holmes, piano; Felipe Salles, saxophone; Tom Giampietro, drums & Haneef Nelson, trumpet
Guests: Dawning Holmes, vocals; David Detweiler, saxophone; Gabe Condon, guitar
Program notes:
The United States of Mind albums from 1970-1972 represent a significant change in the musical style of the great pianist and composer, Horace Silver. The music on these albums was conceived to help people towards living healthy, happy, and spiritually fulfilling lives. But Silver went an extra step and wrote lyrics that spelled out his message. Musically, he wanted to reach young people and so these albums reflect current trends with electric instruments (bass, keyboard, and guitar) and contemporary styles like funk. Silver, however, was already a lauded jazz figure and a Hard Bop innovator, and this change in direction was not well-received. The albums were severely criticized and, along with the rest of his output post-1970, is mostly forgotten today.
The music performed will reflect either the authenticity of the original recordings, the contemporary sound of the Horace Silver Quintet circa 1973, or modern arrangements. Despite the criticism, a reassessment of the music, as this concert hopes to prove, concludes that Silver’s music has not declined in quality. Furthermore, his advocating for a healthy body predates the wellness and health movement in the United States. On “Mother Nature Calls,” Silver warns of the dangers of chemically treated air and processed foods, while championing natural foods and urging his listeners to read food labels. While such lyrics are not commonly subjects in pop songs, in the early 1970s, few were familiar with such food-related terms as calories, carbohydrates, or vitamins, and the term “wellness” was barely in use. In this regard, Silver was well ahead of his time. Considering the jazz musician’s reputation for excess and vice and the long history of mental health problems in jazz history, Silver’s wellness program, outlined on USOM, is indeed unusual and worthy of praise.