Cedar Walton

Cedar Walton
Cedar Walton, 2001
Background information
Birth name	Cedar Anthony Walton, Junior
Born	(1934-01-17) January 17, 1934
Origin	Dallas, Texas
Genres	Hard bop and Jazz-Funk
Occupations	pianist
Instruments	piano
Years active	1950s–present
Labels	Various
Associated acts	Jazz Messengers

Cedar Anthony Walton, Junior (born January 17, 1934) is an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer.

Biography

Walton grew up in Dallas, Texas. His mother was an aspiring concert pianist, and was Walton's initial teacher. She also took him to jazz performances around Dallas. Walton cites Nat King Cole, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum as his major influences on piano. He began emulating recordings of these artists from an early age. He attended the University of Denver as a composition major originally, but was encouraged to switch to a music education program targeted to set up a career in the local public school system. This switch later proved extremely useful since Walton learned to play and arrange for various instruments, a talent he would hone with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

Walton was tempted by the promise of New York through his associations with the likes of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Richie Powell, whom he met at various after-hours sessions around the city of Denver, Colorado. In 1955, he decided to leave school and drove with a friend to New York City. He quickly got recognition from Johnny Garry, who ran Birdland at that time.

Walton was drafted into the Army, and stationed in Germany, cutting short his rising status in the after-hours scene. While in the Army, he played with musicians Leo Wright, Don Ellis, and Eddie Harris. Upon his discharge, he picked up where he left off, playing as a sideman with Kenny Dorham and J. J. Johnson, and joining the Jazztet, led by Benny Golson and Art Farmer. Walton played with this group from 1958 to 1961. In April 1959, Cedar Walton recorded an alternate take of "Giant Steps" with John Coltrane, though he did not solo.

In the early 1960s, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as a pianist-arranger for 3 years (the same day as Freddie Hubbard), where he played with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard. In this group, he demonstrated a keen sense of arranging in originals such as "Ugetsu" and "Mosaic". He left the Messengers in 1964 and by the late 1960s was part of the house rhythm section at Prestige Records, where in addition to releasing his own recordings, he recorded with Sonny Criss, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss, and Charles McPherson. For a year, he served as Abbey Lincoln's accompanist, and recorded with Lee Morgan from 1966 to 1968.

From the 1980s until the present day, Cedar Walton has remained active, and many of his compositions have been adopted as jazz standards, including "Firm Roots", "Bolivia" and "Cedar's Blues". "Bolivia" is perhaps Walton's best known composition, while one of his oldest is "Fantasy in D", recorded under the title "Ugetsu" by Art Blakey in 1963.

In January 2010, he was inducted as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters.

Discography

As leader

• 1967: Cedar! (Prestige)
• 1968: Spectrum (Prestige)
• 1969: The Electric Boogaloo Song (Prestige)
• 1969: Soul Cycle (Prestige)
• 1972: Breakthrough! with Hank Mobley (Cobblestone)
• 1973: A Night at Boomer's (Muse)
• 1974: Firm Roots (Muse)
• 1975: Mobius (RCA)
• 1976: The Pentagon (East Wind)
• 1977: First Set (SteepleChase)
• 1977: Second Set (SteepleChase)
• 1977: Third Set (SteepleChase)
• 1978: Animation (Columbia)
• 1980: Soundscapes (CBS Records)
• 1980: The Maestro (Muse)
• 1981: Piano Solos (Clean Cuts)
• 1982: Among Friends (Theresa Records)
• 1985: The Trio, Vol. 1 (Red)
• 1985: The Trio, Vol. 2 (Red)
• 1985: The Trio, Vol. 3 (Red)
• 1985: Cedar's Blues (Red)
• 1985: Bluesville Time (Criss Cross)
• 1986: Up Front (Timeless)
• 1986: Cedar Walton Plays (Delos)
• 1987: This Is For You, John (Timeless)
• 1992: Live at Maybeck (Concord Jazz)
• 1992: Manhattan Afternoon (Criss Cross)
• 1996: Composer (Astor Place)
• 1999: Roots (Astor Place)
• 2001: Promise Land (Highnote Records)
• 2002: Latin Tinge (Highnote)
• 2005: Naima (Savoy Jazz)
• 2005: Midnight Waltz (Venus Records)
• 2005: Underground Memoirs (Highnote)
• 2006: One Flight Down (Highnote)
• 2008: Seasoned Wood (Highnote)
• 2009: Voices Deep Within (Highnote)
• 2010: Cedar Chest (Highnote)
• 2011: The Bouncer (Highnote)

With Eastern Rebellion

• 1975: Eastern Rebellion, Vol. 1 (Timeless Muse)
• 1977: Eastern Rebellion, Vol. 2 (Timeless Muse)
• 1990: Mosaic (Musicmasters)
• 1992: Simple Pleasure (Musicmasters)
• 1994: Just One of Those... Nights At The Village Vanguard (Musicmasters)

With Timeless All Stars

• 1982: It's Timelss (Timeless)
• 1983: Timeless Heart (Timeless)
• 1986: Essence (Delos)
• 1991: Time For The Timeless All Stars (Early Bird Records)

As sideman

With Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt

• God Bless Jug and Sonny (Prestige, 1973 [2001])
• Left Bank Encores (Prestige, 1973 [2001])

With Art Blakey

• Mosaic (Blue Note, 1961)
• Three Blind Mice (Blue Note, 1962)
• Free For All (Blue Note, 1964)
• Kyoto (Riverside, 1964)
• Indestructible (Blue Note, 1964)

With Donald Byrd

• Slow Drag (Blue Note, 1967)

With Ornette Coleman

• Broken Shadows (Columbia, 1972 [1982])

With John Coltrane

• Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1959)

With Sonny Criss

• Up, Up and Away (Prestige, 1967)
• The Beat Goes On! (Prestige, 1968)

With Kenny Dorham and Cannonball Adderley

• Blue Spring (Riverside, 1959)

With Teddy Edwards

• It's All Right! (Prestige, 1967)

With Art Farmer and Benny Golson

• Big City Sounds (Argo, 1960)
• The Jazztet and John Lewis (Argo, 1961)
• The Jazztet at Birdhouse (Argo, 1961)

With Curtis Fuller

• Soul Trombone (Impulse!, 1961)
• Smokin' (Mainstream, 1972)

With Benny Golson

• Take a Number from 1 to 10 (Argo, 1961)

With Steve Grossman

• Love is the Thing (Red Record, 1985)

With Eddie Harris

• Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway (Columbia, 1964)
• The In Sound (Atlantic, 1965)
• Mean Greens (Atlantic, 1966)
• The Tender Storm (Atlantic, 1966)
• Excursions (Atlantic, 1966-73)
• How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)

With Jimmy Heath

• The Quota (Riverside, 1961)
• Triple Threat (Riverside, 1962)

With Joe Henderson

• Mode for Joe (Blue Note, 1966)

With Freddie Hubbard

• Here To Stay (Blue Note, 1962, [1979])

With Bobby Hutcherson

• Highway One (Columbia, 1978)

With Milt Jackson

• Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art (Limelight, 1965)
• Born Free (Limelight, 1966)
• Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet (Verve, 1968)
• Goodbye (CTI, 1973)
• Olinga (CTI, 1974)

With J. J. Johnson

• J.J. Inc. (Columbia, 1961)

With Sam Jones

• Seven Minds (East Wind Records, 1974)

With Clifford Jordan

• Spellbound (Riverside, 1960)
• Starting Time (Jazzland, 1961)
• Bearcat (Jazzland, 1962)

With Eric Kloss

• First Class Kloss! (Prestige, 1967)

With Abbey Lincoln

• Abbey Is Blue (Riverside, 1959)

With Pat Martino

• Strings! (Prestige, 1967)

With Christian McBride

• New York Time (Chesky, 2006)

With Charles McPherson

• From This Moment On! (Prestige, 1968)
• Horizons (Prestige, 1968)

With Lee Morgan

• The Sixth Sense (Blue Note, 1968)

With Blue Mitchell

• The Cup Bearers (Riverside, 1962)
• Boss Horn (1966)
• Summer Soft (Impulse!, 1977)

With Houston Person

• Chocomotive (Prestige, 1967)
• Trust in Me (Prestige, 1967)
• Blue Odyssey (Prestige, 1968)
• Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (Prestige, 1972)

With Sonny Red

• The Mode (Jazzland, 1961)
• Sonny Red (Mainstream, 1971)

With Stanley Turrentine

• Another Story (Blue Note, 1969)