Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Cedar Walton was born Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. was born January 17, 1934 in Dallas Texas. After attending the University of Denver, he moved to New York in 1955. A two-year stint in the Army saw him performing in a jazz ensemble, whereupon his discharge he joined Kenny Dorham’s band. By the late 1950s Walton was playing with J. J. Johnson, the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet and Gigi Gryce. In 1959 he recorded as a member of John Coltrane’s group on his seminal work Giant Steps.

In the early 1960s, Cedar joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and for three years held the position of pianist/arranger, playing with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard. He left the Messengers in 1964 and by the late Sixties was part of Prestige Records’ house rhythm section, where in addition to releasing his own recordings, he recorded with Sonny Criss, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss, and Charles McPherson.

Although he has been one of the finest interpreters of standards, Walton is considered one of the jazz world’s most underrated composers contributing “Bolivia”, “Fantasy in D”, Mosaic and “Ugetsu”.

During the mid-1970s, Walton led the funk group Mobius. He has recorded with Hank Mobley, Abbey Lincoln, Lee Morgan and led the group Eastern Rebellion with rotating members included Clifford Jordan, George Coleman, Bob Berg, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins.

In January 2010, he was inducted as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters. Since first recording as a leader he has recorded some four-dozen albums and an equal amount as a sideman. Pianist Cedar Walton continued to lead his own groups and freelance until his death on August 19, 2013.

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