Cedar Walton

Cedar Walton
Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer. Several of his compositions have become jazz standards, including "Mosaic", "Bolivia", "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Ugetsu/Fantasy in D".
Early life
Walton was born and grew up in Dallas, Texas. His mother Ruth, an aspiring concert pianist, was his first teacher, and took him to jazz performances around Dallas. Walton cited Nat King Cole, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum as his major influences on piano. He began emulating these artists' recordings from an early age.
After briefly attending Dillard University in New Orleans, he entered the University of Denver as a composition major, but was encouraged to switch to a music-education program with the goal of a career in the local public school system. This later proved extremely useful, as he learned to play and arrange for various instruments, a talent he honed with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
Walton was tempted by the promise of New York City through his associations with John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Richie Powell, whom he met at after-hours sessions around 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 the time.
Later life and career
Walton was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany, cutting short his rising status in the after-hours jazz scene. In the Army he played with musicians Leo Wright, Don Ellis and Eddie Harris. On his discharge after two years, he picked up where he left off, playing as a sideman with Kenny Dorham, on whose 1958 album This Is the Moment!, he made his recording debut. He joined the Jazztet led by Benny Golson and Art Farmer and played with them from 1958 to 1961. In April 1959 he recorded an alternate take of "Giant Steps" with John Coltrane, though he did not solo. In the early 1960s Walton joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as a pianist-arranger (on the same day Freddie Hubbard joined the group), where, for the next three years, he wrote and arranged such originals 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. In addition to releasing his own recordings there, he recorded with Sonny Criss, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss, and Charles McPherson. For a year, he was Abbey Lincoln's accompanist, and recorded with Lee Morgan from 1966 to 1968. In the mid-1970s he led the funk group Mobius. He arranged and recorded for Etta James from the mid-1990s on, helping her win a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (RCA Victor) in 1994.
Many of Walton's compositions have become jazz standards, including "Firm Roots", "Bolivia" (perhaps his best known), "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Cedar's Blues". One of his oldest compositions is "Fantasy in D", recorded as "Ugetsu" by Art Blakey in 1963, and as "Polar AC" by Freddie Hubbard, first in 1971.
In January 2010, Walton was inducted as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.
Billy Higgins partnership and The Magic Triangle
Walton played and recorded with drummer Billy Higgins from the mid-1960s through the 1990s. Higgins and Walton first recorded together in 1965 for Eddie Harris's The In Sound LP, and Higgins played on Walton's first album, Cedar! (1967). They continued to play and record together regularly through the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1970s, bassist Sam Jones formed a working trio, The Magic Triangle, with Walton and Higgins. They recorded albums under both Walton's and Jones's leadership, and played on several 1970s albums by Art Farmer and Clifford Jordan (including Jordan's Glass Bead Games and Farmer's Art Farmer Quintet at Boomers). Though they did not record as The Magic Triangle, Jordan's albums Clifford Jordan and the Magic Triangle on Stage, Firm Roots, and The Highest Mountain cited the trio's informal name. They also backed up Hank Mobley, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and Idrees Sulieman in the 1970s on live and studio recordings. Drummer Louis Hayes sometimes replaced Higgins during this period for recordings and live performances.
In 1975, The Magic Triangle became the core of the Eastern Rebellion jazz collective, which featured (at different times) saxophonists George Coleman, Bob Berg and Ralph Moore, trombonist Curtis Fuller, and trumpeter Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros. Eastern Rebellion released seven albums between 1975 and 1994, all featuring Walton and Higgins.
Sam Jones died in late 1981, and Walton and Higgins carried on with bassist David "Happy" Williams, who also joined them on the four final Eastern Rebellion recordings. Walton, Williams, and Higgins recorded regularly throughout the 1980s and early 1990s under Walton's leadership. Walton and Higgins also appeared on recordings by Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Slide Hampton, Junior Cook, Bobby Hutcherson, Frank Morgan, and Jackie McLean (sometimes with other bassists in place of Williams).
With bassist Ron Carter, Walton and Higgins recorded two live albums in 1991 at the Sweet Basil Jazz Club as the Sweet Basil Trio. A third Sweet Basil Trio record, this time with Williams on bass, was recorded in 1993.
Writing of The Magic Triangle's collaborations with Clifford Jordan, pianist and essayist Ethan Iverson wrote: "Taken as a collection, the Jordan–Walton canon from the seventies is some of the best jazz ever recorded....If I had to pick only one from that collaboration for a desert isle, it would be Jordan's Night of the Mark VII."
Death
After a brief illness, Walton died on August 19, 2013, at his home in Brooklyn, New York, at age 79.
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Posthumous releases
Reliving The Moment – Live At The Keystone Korner (HighNote, 2014) – live rec. 1977–78
Charmed Circle (HighNote, 2017) – rec. 1979
As leader of Eastern Rebellion
1975: Eastern Rebellion with George Coleman, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1976)
1977: Eastern Rebellion 2 with Bob Berg, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1977)
1979: Eastern Rebellion 3 with Curtis Fuller, Bob Berg, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1980)
1983: Eastern Rebellion 4 with Curtis Fuller, Bob Berg, Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, David Williams & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1984)
1990: Mosaic with Ralph Moore, David Williams & Billy Higgins (MusicMasters, 1992)
1992: Simple Pleasure with Ralph Moore, David Williams & Billy Higgins (MusicMasters, 1993)
1994: Just One of Those... Nights at the Village Vanguard with Ralph Moore, David Williams & Billy Higgins (Jazz Heritage, 1994)
As a member
The Timeless All Stars
It's Timeless (Timeless, 1982)
Timeless Heart (Timeless, 1983)
Essence (Delos, 1986)
Time for the Timeless All Stars (Early Bird, 1991)
In a New York Minute with Ian Shaw (Milestone, 1999)
As sideman
With Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt
1973: God Bless Jug and Sonny (Prestige, 2001)
1973: Left Bank Encores (Prestige, 2001)
With Art Blakey
Mosaic (Blue Note, 1961)
Three Blind Mice (Blue Note, 1962)
Caravan (Riverside, 1963)
Ugetsu (Riverside, 1963)
Buhaina's Delight (Blue Note, 1963)
Free for All (Blue Note, 1964)
Kyoto (Riverside, 1964)
Indestructible (Blue Note, 1964)
Golden Boy (Colpix, 1964)
Buhaina (Prestige, 1973)
Anthenagin (Prestige, 1973)
With Donald Byrd
Slow Drag (Blue Note, 1967)
Blackjack (Blue Note, 1968)
With Sonny Criss
Up, Up and Away (Prestige, 1967)
The Beat Goes On! (Prestige, 1968)
With Kenny Dorham
This Is the Moment! (Riverside, 1958)
Blue Spring with Cannonball Adderley (Riverside, 1959)
With Art Farmer
The Time and the Place (Columbia, 1967)
The Art Farmer Quintet Plays the Great Jazz Hits (Columbia, 1967)
Homecoming (Mainstream, 1971)
Yesterday's Thoughts (East Wind, 1975)
To Duke with Love (East Wind, 1975)
The Summer Knows (East Wind, 1976)
Art Farmer Quintet at Boomers (East Wind, 1976)
With Curtis Fuller
Soul Trombone (Impulse!, 1961)
Smokin' (Mainstream, 1972)
With Benny Golson
Take a Number from 1 to 10 (Argo, 1961)
This Is for You, John (Timeless, 1987) – rec. 1983
With Dexter Gordon
1972: Generation (Prestige, 1972)
1972: Tangerine (Prestige, 1975)
1980: Gotham City (Columbia, 1981)
With Steve Grossman
Love Is the Thing (Red, 1985)
A Small Hotel (Dreyfus Jazz, 1993)
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, 1973) – rec. 1966–73
How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)
With Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath Orchestra, Really Big! (Riverside, 1960)
The Quota (Riverside, 1961)
Triple Threat (Riverside, 1962)
With Billy Higgins
Soweto (Red, 1979)
Once More (Red, 1980)
The Soldier (Timeless, 1981) – rec. 1979
Bridgework (Contemporary, 1987)
Billy Higgins Quintet (Sweet Basil, 1993)
With Freddie Hubbard
Hub Cap (Blue Note, 1961)
The Body & the Soul (Impulse!, 1963)
Here to Stay (Blue Note, 1979) – rec. 1962
Bolivia (Musicmasters, 1991)
With Bobby Hutcherson
Highway One (Columbia, 1978)
Farewell Keystone (Evidence, 1992) – rec. 1982
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)
Milt Jackson at the Kosei Nenkin (Pablo, 1976)
Bags' Bag (Pablo, 1979)
It Don't Mean a Thing If You Can't Tap Your Foot to It (Pablo, 1984)
The Harem (Musicmasters, 1991)
Reverence and Compassion (Warner Bros., 1993)
With Etta James
Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (RCA Victor, 1994)
Time After Time (RCA Victor, 1995)
12 Songs of Christmas (Private Music, 1998)
Blue Gardenia (Private Music, 2001)
With The Jazztet (Art Farmer and Benny Golson)
Big City Sounds (Argo, 1960)
The Jazztet and John Lewis (Argo, 1961)
The Jazztet at Birdhouse (Argo, 1961)
Voices All (Eastworld, 1982)
With J. J. Johnson
Really Livin' (Columbia, 1959)
J.J. Inc. (Columbia, 1961)
With Philly Joe Jones
Advance! (Galaxy, 1978)
Drum Song (Galaxy, 1985) – rec. 1978
With Sam Jones
Seven Minds (East Wind, 1974)
Something in Common (Muse, 1977)
With Clifford Jordan
Spellbound (Riverside, 1960)
Starting Time (Jazzland, 1961)
Bearcat (Jazzland, 1962)
These are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly (Atlantic, 1965)
Glass Bead Games (Strata-East, 1974)
Night of the Mark VII (Muse, 1975)
Firm Roots (Steeplechase, 1975)
The Highest Mountain (Steeplechase, 1975)
On Stage Vol. 1 (SteepleChase, 1977) – rec. 1975
On Stage Vol. 2 (SteepleChase, 1978) – rec. 1975
On Stage Vol. 3 (SteepleChase, 1979) – rec. 1975
Half Note (SteepleChase, 1985) – rec. 1974
With Kimiko Kasai
Kimiko Is Here (CBS/Sony, 1974)
Kimiko Kasai (Kittye, 1990)
With Charles McPherson
From This Moment On! (Prestige, 1968)
Horizons (Prestige, 1968)
With Blue Mitchell
The Cup Bearers (Riverside, 1962)
Boss Horn (Blue Note, 1966)
Stratosonic Nuances (RCA, 1975)
Summer Soft (Impulse!, 1977)
With Frank Morgan
Easy Living (Contemporary, 1985)
Lament (Contemporary, 1986)
Bebop Lives! (Contemporary, 1987)
Love, Lost & Found (Telarc, 1995)
With Lee Morgan
Charisma (Blue Note, 1966)
The Rajah (Blue Note, 1966)
Sonic Boom (Blue Note, 1967)
The Sixth Sense (Blue Note, 1968)
Caramba! (Blue Note, 1968)
With David "Fathead" Newman
Resurgence! (Muse, 1981)
Diamondhead (HighNote, 1988)
Davey Blue (HighNote, 2002)
With Houston Person
Chocomotive (Prestige, 1967)
Trust in Me (Prestige, 1967)
Blue Odyssey (Prestige, 1968)
Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (Prestige, 1972)
The Big Horn (Muse, 1979) – rec. 1976
Very PERSONal (Muse, 1980)
Naturally (HighNote, 2012)
With Sonny Red
The Mode (Jazzland, 1961)
Sonny Red (Mainstream, 1971)
With Archie Shepp
For Losers (Impulse!, 1969)
Kwanza (Impulse!, 1969)
With Lucky Thompson
Goodbye Yesterday (Groove Merchant, 1973)
Concert: Friday the 13th – Cook County Jail (Groove Merchant, 1973)
I Offer You (Groove Merchant, 1973)
With Stanley Turrentine
Another Story (Blue Note, 1969)
More Than a Mood (MusicMasters, 1992)
With others
Ray Brown, Something for Lester (Contemporary, 1977)
Kenny Burrell, Sunup to Sundown (Contemporary, 1991)
Benny Carter, Elegy in Blue (MusicMasters, 1994)
Joe Chambers, The Almoravid (Muse, 1974)
Junior Cook, Somethin's Cookin' (Muse, 1981)
Ornette Coleman, Broken Shadows (Columbia, 1982) – rec. 1972
Ornette Coleman, The Complete Science Fiction Sessions (Columbia, 2000) – rec. 1972
Johnny Coles, Katumbo (Dance) (Mainstream, 1971)
John Coltrane, Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1959) [alternate takes]
Larry Coryell, Cedars of Avalon (HighNote, 2002)
Teddy Edwards, It's All Right! (Prestige, 1967)
Johnny Griffin, Bush Dance (Galaxy, 1978)
Slide Hampton, Roots (Criss Cross, 1985)
Joe Henderson, Mode for Joe (Blue Note, 1966)
Bjorn Johansen, Take One (Odin, 1987)
Etta Jones, Save Your Love for Me (Muse, 1980)
Eric Kloss, First Class Kloss! (Prestige, 1967)
Abbey Lincoln, Abbey Is Blue (Riverside, 1959)
Pat Martino, Strings! (Prestige, 1967)
Christian McBride, New York Time (Chesky, 2006)
Dave Pike, Pike's Groove (Criss Cross Jazz, 1986)
Ian Shaw, In a New York Minute (Milestone, 1999) – rec. 1998
Woody Shaw, Setting Standards (Muse, 1984) – rec. 1983
James Spaulding, James Spaulding Plays the Legacy of Duke Ellington (Storyville, 1977)
Idrees Sulieman, Now Is the Time (SteepleChase, 1976)
Sonny Stitt, Just In Case You Forgot How Bad He Really Was (32 Jazz, 1981)
Jay Thomas, Easy Does It (Discovery, 1985)
David Williams, Up Front (Timeless, 1987)
References
External links
Interview with Cedar Walton, by Ethan Iverson, March 2010
Richard Brody, "The Glorious Cedar Walton", The New Yorker, August 26, 2013.
1934 births
2013 deaths
African-American jazz musicians
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
Atlantic Records artists
Blue Note Records artists
Chesky Records artists
Cobblestone Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Concord Records artists
Contemporary Records artists
Criss Cross Jazz artists
Discovery Records artists
Galaxy Records artists
Hard bop pianists
HighNote Records artists
Impulse! Records artists
The Jazz Messengers members
Mainstream Records artists
Muse Records artists
Musicians from Brooklyn
Jazz musicians from New York City
Odin Records artists
Pablo Records artists
Musicians from Dallas
Prestige Records artists
Private Music artists
RCA Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Red Records artists
Riverside Records artists
SteepleChase Records artists
Strata-East Records artists
Telarc Records artists
Timeless Records artists
Transatlantic Records artists
University of Denver alumni
Venus Records artists
Verve Records artists
Warner Records artists
American male jazz musicians
The Jazztet members
African-American pianists