Ebullient piano legend Horace Silver is the innovator of the hard bop style that virtually defines today's "straight-ahead" jazz sound. Along with Art Blakey (with whom he founded the seminal group the Jazz Messengers), Silver brought a fresh infusion of funk, gospel, R&B and roots music back to jazz (which had become more abstract during the bebop era). Jazz Has a Sense of Humor consists of 9 new, jaunty Silver originals that aptly make his point that jazz can be both witty and playful.