Luis Silva Parra

Biography

Silva was born in Guayaquil on February 9, 1931. His father, Fermin Silva de La Torre, was a violinist, orchestra director, and founder of the first Big Band of Ecuador. At age 12 Silva accompanied his father to wedding gigs playing violin, but he lacked motivation for that instrument. He built his first instrument from wood in the shape of a saxophone and spent time painting images of saxophones.

His father enrolled him at the Santa Cecilia Academy of the Philanthropic Society of Guayas. At 13 he studied with teacher Bolívar Claverol, and at 15 he joined the orchestra Costa Rica Swing Boys. After renting saxophones, he bought his first saxophone and played with the orchestras of Blacio Jr. and Sonora Rubén Lema. He sang and played flute in Los Cuatro, and was part of De Luxe, Los Hermanos Silva, and Los Gatos.

He performed street serenades in Guayaquil for money. In 1983 a television program directed by Freddy Ehlers used one of Silva's jazz saxophone melodies as its opening theme. Silva was among the most recorded instrumental artists in Ecuador, playing saxophone, clarinet, and flute. He died on December 30, 2015.