( CNN ) -- Horace Silver , the innovative and prolific jazz pianist best known for such pieces as `` Song for My Father '' and `` The Preacher , '' has died . He was 85 . Silver died Wednesday in New Rochelle , New York , according to a statement from his longtime label , Blue Note Records . `` A pioneer of hard bop and original founder of The Jazz Messengers , Horace tempered bebop with elements of gospel , blues and R & B to create a soulful modern jazz concept that came to identify the 'Blue Note Sound , ' `` said the legendary jazz label . The pianist was known for his light touch and ability to combine a variety of styles in his nimble playing . Though known for `` hard bop '' -- an offshoot of bebop -- he seldom let boundaries contain his playing . `` His funky , unique and infectious piano-playing style set a standard for many pianists to follow , further cementing his well-deserved legacy , '' the Recording Academy said in a statement . Mainstream audiences might be most familiar with Silver 's `` Song for My Father , '' a mid-'60s composition that starts with a keyboard phrase later borrowed by Steely Dan for `` Rikki Do n't Lose That Number . '' But unlike the brooding `` Rikki , '' which came out a decade later , Silver 's composition is upbeat and joyful , with sprightly horns and rhythms evoking the island birthplace of Silver 's father , the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde . Silver dedicated the piece to his dad and put him on the cover of the `` Song for My Father '' LP ( 1965 ) . Silver was born in 1928 in Norwalk , Connecticut . He got his big break when the popular saxophonist Stan Getz heard him one night and asked him to join him in New York . `` I had maybe $ 700 in the bank and I had spent all that money on doctor bills , '' he said in an interview with the magazine All About Jazz . `` But the good Lord was looking after me and Stan Getz came through Hartford and heard me and my trio and hired us . That was a blessing . '' He formed the Jazz Messengers with drummer Art Blakey in 1953 , then left to form his own group two years later . That band , the Horace Silver Quintet , played on some of Silver 's most famous recordings . Silver is survived by a son , Gregory . People we have lost in 2014 .
Horace Silver was famed jazz pianist . Silver co-founded Jazz Messengers , helped create `` hard bop '' Composition `` Song for My Father '' has keyboard phrase later used in Steely Dan hit .