Cedar Walton, a National Endowment for the Arts "jazzmaster" known as "one of the great hard bop ianists," died early Monday at his home in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was 79.
One of the most valued of all hard bop accompanists, CedarWalton is a versatile pianist whose funky touch and cogent melodic sense havegraced the recordings of many of jazz’s greatest players. He is also one of themusic’s more underrated composers; although he has always been a first-rateinterpreter of standards, Walton wrote a number of excellent tunes (“Mosaic,”“Ugetsu,” and “Bolivia,” to name a few) that found their way into Art Blakey’sbook during the pianist’s early-’60s stint with the Jazz Messengers. Inaddition to his many quantifiable accomplishments, Walton is less well known asthe first pianist to record, in April 1959 with John Coltrane, the tenorist’sdaunting “Giant Steps” — unlike the unfortunate Tommy Flanagan a month later,Walton wasn’t required to solo, though he does comp magnificently.
Walton was first taught piano by his mother. After attendingthe University of Denver, he moved to New York in 1955, ostensibly to playmusic. Instead, he was drafted into the Army. Stationed in Germany, Waltonplayed with American musicians Leo Wright, Don Ellis, and Eddie Harris. Afterhis discharge, Walton moved back to New York, where he began his career inearnest. From 1958-1961, Walton played with Kenny Dorham, J.J. Johnson, and ArtFarmer’s Jazztet, among others. Walton joined Blakey in 1961, with whom heremained until 1964. This was perhaps Blakey’s most influential group, withFreddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. Walton served time as Abbey Lincoln’saccompanist from 1965-1966 and made records with Lee Morgan from 1966-1968;from 1967-1969, Walton served as a sideman on many Prestige albums as well.Walton played in a band with Hank Mobley in the early ’70s and returned toBlakey for a 1973 tour of Japan.
Walton’s own band of the period was called EasternRebellion, and was comprised of a rotating cast that included saxophonistsClifford Jordan, George Coleman, and Bob Berg; bassist Sam Jones; and drummerBilly Higgins. From the ’80s onward, Walton continued to lead his own finebands, releasing numerous albums including The Maestro in 1980, Cedar WaltonPlays in 1986, and Composer in 1996, followed a year later by Roots, featuringtrumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Joshua Redman. In 2001 Waltonreleased The Promise Land, his debut for Highnote, which was followed by LatinTinge in 2002, Underground Memoirs in 2005, and Seasoned Wood with trumpeterJeremy Pelt in 2008. Walton was joined by saxophonist Vincent Herring on VoicesDeep Within in 2009. Herring was also featured along with trombonist SteveTurre on The Bouncer in 2011.
