Uncle Skid Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 I've been on a Cedar Walton kick lately, and I'm really enjoying everything I'm hearing so far. I first came across his playing on some of his appearances with Lee Morgan, and then after hearing David Hazeltine (who seems to be influenced by Cedar), I've been looking for more of Cedar's recordings. So far, I've been listening to: Cedar Walton: Manhattan Afternoon, Cedar!, Plays Cedar Walton, and The Promise Land Lee Morgan: Sonic Boom, Charisma Art Blakey: Indestructible, Ugetsu After looking at AMG's Discography and "Appears On" list, it's difficult to figure out where to go next. Any recommendations? Is Cedar still actively recording and/or touring? Although it appears to be somewhat obscure, Dexter Gordon's Gotham City may be next on the list, as it was recommended by a guitar instructor -- George Benson on guitar, plus Cedar on piano. Thanks in advance! Quote
Noj Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 (edited) I'm not the best at knowing who played on what albums, so I was looking at Cedar Walton on AMG and found he's on some of my favorite albums: John Coltrane GIANT STEPS Sonny Criss UP, UP, & AWAY Dexter Gordon TANGERINE Joe Henderson MODE FOR JOE Milt Jackson OLINGA Clifford Jordan GLASS BEAD GAMES I also have his album ANIMATION, which gets a low rating on AMG but I think it has some cool moments. Edited for a repeat Edited November 26, 2003 by Noj Quote
Uncle Skid Posted November 26, 2003 Author Report Posted November 26, 2003 Thanks, noj. I didn't realize that he is on Coltrane's Giant Steps -- I hate to admit it, but I don't own that one yet. Mode for Joe was already on my want list, but I didn't know that Cedar was on that recording as well. Busy guy!! Quote
kdd Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 Here's a few I can recommend Art Blakey Buhaina's Delight Art Blakey Mosaic Art Blakey Pisces Art Blakey Caravan Art Blakey Three Blind Mice Art Blakey Ugetsu Art Blakey Free for All Art Blakey Indestructible Art Blakey Child's Dance Art Blakey Anthenagin Art Blakey Indestructible Donald Byrd Blackjack Donald Byrd Slow Drag Eastern Rebellion Volume 1 Dexter Gordon Generation Dexter Gordon Tangerine Steve Grossman Love Is the Thing Jimmy Heath Quota Jimmy Heath Triple Threat Joe Henderson Mode for Joe Freddie Hubbard Here to Stay Freddie Hubbard Hub Cap Freddie Hubbard Body & the Soul Philly Joe Jones Drum Songs Sam Jones Something in Common Clifford Jordan Starting Time Blue Mitchell Out of the Blue Blue Mitchell Cup Bearers Blue Mitchell Boss Horn Lee Morgan Charisma Lee Morgan Sixth Sense Lee Morgan Sonic Boom Lee Morgan Caramba! Woody Shaw Setting Standards Quote
Jim R Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 (edited) I didn't realize that he is on Coltrane's Giant Steps -- I hate to admit it, but I don't own that one yet. BUY that CD! Walton was not part of the original LP, but he played on alternate versions of two of the songs from it (the Rhino CD includes 8 bonus tracks). FWIW, here's a selected C.W. discography: J. J. Johnson- The Complete Columbia J. J. Johnson Small Group Sessions Kenny Dorham- Blue Spring Jimmy Heath- Really Big Clifford Jordan- Spellbound The Jazztet- Big City Sounds Benny Golson- Take A Number From One To Ten / Free The Jazztet- The Jazztet And John Lewis Jimmy Heath- The Quota Clifford Jordan- Mosaic (A Story Tale / Starting Time) The Jazztet- At Birdhouse Sonny Red- Red, Blue & Green (The Mode / Images) Curtis Fuller- Soul Trombone (The Jazz Clan) Clifford Jordan- Bearcat Jimmy Heath- Triple Threat Art Blakey- Three Blind Mice, Vol. 1 Blue Mitchell- The Cup Bearers Art Blakey- Caravan Donald Byrd- Blackjack Art Blakey- Ugetsu Blue Mitchell- The Complete Blue Note Recordings Of Blue Mitchell, 1963 to 1967 Art Blakey- Golden Boy Milt Jackson- Jazz 'Round Midnight Eddie Harris- Cool Sax, Warm Heart / Cool Sax From Hollywood To Broadway Lee Morgan- Charisma Lee Morgan- The Rajah Eddie Harris- The Tender Storm Milt Jackson- Born Free Art Farmer- Plays Great Jazz Hits Donald Byrd- Slow Drag Cedar Walton- Cedar! Pat Martino- Strings! Cedar Walton- Spectrum / (The Electric Boogaloo Song) Stanley Turrentine- Another Story Sonny Red- Sonny Red (on Mainstream) Art Farmer- Gentle Eyes Art Farmer- Homecoming Dexter Gordon- Tangerine Dexter Gordon- Generation Cedar Walton - Naima Milt Jackson- Goodbye Art Farmer- To Duke With Love Clifford Jordan- Firm Roots Art Farmer- Yesterday's Thoughts Milt Jackson- Centerpiece (Live at The Kosei Nenkin, Vol. 2) Milt Jackson- At The Kosei Nenkin (Vol. 1) Art Farmer- The Summer Knows Clifford Jordan / Cedar Walton- The Pentagon Philly Joe Jones- Drum Songs (Advance / Drum Song) Dexter Gordon- Gotham City Junior Cook- Something's Cookin' Cedar Walton- Among Friends Slide Hampton Quintet- Roots Dexter Gordon- Round Midnight (Film Soundtrack) Dexter Gordon- The Other Side Of Round Midnight Frank Morgan- Lament Cedar Walton (Sweet Basil Trio)- St. Thomas Kenny Burrell- Sunup To Sundown Stanley Turrentine- More Than A Mood Cedar Walton- Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 25 Cedar Walton- Manhattan Afternoon Milt Jackson- Reverence And Compassion Cedar Walton (Sweet Basil Trio)- You're My Everything Milt Jackson- The Prophet Speaks Dave Young- (w/Oscar Peterson,Cedar Walton,Tommy Flanagan,John Hicks, Mulgrew Miller) Two By Two Eric Alexander- Man With A Horn Edited November 26, 2003 by Jim R Quote
connoisseur series500 Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 I've got three Cedar Walton-led sessions on cd. You've gotta get, "Cedar!" on OJC and "Naima" on 32jazz label. As I mentioned in another thread, you can get the latter cd for only $5 on half.com (at least, last time I checked.) You will NOT be disappointed. I love Cedar too. I've got a bunch of stuff where he is a sideman as well. He rarely disapponts. Quote
sal Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 No mention of his album THE COMPOSER from 1996 with Ralph Moore, Vincent Herring, et al.? I'd recommend it. I entered this thread to recommend "The Composer", but looks like I got beat to it! Its a great album, and even though its out of print, it can still be found quite easily online. It features some great new Walton compositions. It also features Roy Hargrove, Victor Lewis, and Christian McBride in addition to the players David already named. Quote
Dan Gould Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 A third nomination of The Composer, and don't forget his other Astor Place release, Roots. Also very nice. Quote
king ubu Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 Jim's list is pretty impressive! Some very good albums there! The Jazztet plays John Lewis is great, Naima is (as has been said), and several others I like a lot, such as: Cliff Jordan, Mosaic; the Sonny Red twofer, all that Blakey stuff (dig the Walton solo on the opening track of Free for All!), the Eddie Harris Atlantic albums (four of them were collected in a very nice 2CD package by 32jazz)... The man was all over the place! He provides some of the highlights of Morgan's Rajah, in my opinion. ubu Quote
sidewinder Posted November 26, 2003 Report Posted November 26, 2003 I've always enjoyed Walton's playing on two very under-rated Lee Morgan albums - 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Caramba', where he contributes much to the modal groove of these albums and gets in some fine solos. Walton always sounded good on Lee Morgan sessions. Quote
Jazzdog Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 I've always enjoyed Walton's playing on two very under-rated Lee Morgan albums - 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Caramba', where he contributes much to the modal groove of these albums and gets in some fine solos. Walton always sounded good on Lee Morgan sessions. I'll add to that, just that he always sounded GOOD. No one has singled out Breakthru. I think it's a great record as well as being Hank's Last Stand! I also really like the Prestige sides, Cedar and Plays Cedar Walton Skid mentions up above. Quote
BFrank Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 There's a group that he played with for a period of time that consistently put out great albums - "The Magic Triangle". They consisted of Clifford Jordan, Cedar, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins. So it's basically the same as the "Eastern Rebellion" albums, but with Jordan on tenor. Keep an eye out for:Night of the Mark 7Firm RootsHighest MountainOn Stage, Vol. 1-3 I would also recommend Sam Jones' "Something In Common" which has been mentioned earlier, too. Quote
connoisseur series500 Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 Here's another one that I just remembered: Charles Lloyd, "Acoustic Masters" w/Cedar, Buster Williams & Billy Higgins. Everyone plays well on it. Quote
EKE BBB Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 He appears in "Abbey is blue" (some tracks with Cedar Walton, some tracks with Wynton Kelly). One of my favorite records by Abbey Lincoln. Quote
bertrand Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 For those in the Baltimore/Washington area, Cedar will be at Caton Castle in Baltimore on Saturday 11/29 at 7:00 PM along with Javon Jackson, David Williams and Joe Farnsworth. Tickets are $30 - call 410-566-7086 www.baltimorejazz.com Maybe I'll see you there. Bertrand. Quote
BFrank Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 I forgot to mention that he just played at Yoshi's last week in a show entitled "Tribute to Art Blakey". Here's the lineup and blurb from the website: Cedar Walton - piano Eddie Henderson - trumpet Bobby Watson - alto saxophone Curtis Fuller - trombone Kenny Washington - drums David Williams - bass Now this is a supergroup! Assembled exclusively for Yoshi's by Artistic Director Peter Williams. The group is paying tribute to the great drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers groups. Blakey was one of the most influential and legendary drummers in jazz history. Blakey created one of the most exciting and distinctive bands in the history of jazz. Walton is best known for his work with Art Blakey and his numerous compositions for the Jazz Messengers, including "Bolivia," "Mosaic, and "Fantasy in D." Walton is considered one of the most influential jazz pianists and composers in jazz history. Walton and Fuller played with Blakey from 1961 - 1965 and Watson played with Blakey from 1977 -1981. Looking back over this, I'm not sure what I was thinking by NOT going. Quote
sidewinder Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Wow - would have really liked to see that !! Now if only they would ship these guys over to Europe for a week or three.. Another Cedar recommendation... How about the album 'Strings' put out by Pat Martino on Prestige in the late 60s. A seriously groovin session with Cedar doing his usual stuff and Joe Farrell completing the quartet. A particularly nice version of 'Minority' on this one. Recommended for anyone who likes Cedar's 'Cedar!' and 'Spectrum' albums. :rsmile: Quote
BFrank Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Another Cedar recommendation... How about the album 'Strings' put out by Pat Martino on Prestige in the late 60s. A seriously groovin session with Cedar doing his usual stuff and Joe Farrell completing the quartet. A particularly nice version of 'Minority' on this one. Yeah. That's a great album. I just recently discovered it myself. Some really nice Joe Farrell there, as well. Quote
sidewinder Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Recently got hold of a Prestige vinyl original of it, BFrank. It was a happy day when I came across it. There seems to be a general rule that any of the mid to late 60s Prestiges with Cedar in the lineup are guaranteed to smoke. Sonny Criss's 'Up, Up and Away' is another example. Quote
BFrank Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 (edited) Sonny Criss's 'Up, Up and Away' is another example. He's on that, too? You're right - it's a KILLER! Actually, looking at Jim R's list, I see that he's on those great Jimmy Heath albums and also Blue Mitchell's "Cup Bearers" - great stuff. Somehow I didn't realize that he was on all of those. Edited November 28, 2003 by BFrank Quote
sidewinder Posted November 28, 2003 Report Posted November 28, 2003 Thanks for the prompt with the Heath and Mitchell Riversides. I'll have to check them out. For 'Cedar' read 'Zelig' ....... Quote
patricia Posted November 30, 2003 Report Posted November 30, 2003 Cedar Walton did an amazing job, backing Etta James, a few years ago on her "Mystery Lady" collection. It was her take on some of Billie's hits and I like it very much, though I was skeptical and almost didn't buy it. When I saw that Cedar had agreed to do this with Etta, that convinced me. Glad I snapped it up. Etta doesn't "do" Billie, so much as interpret her and that was very wise of her. Quote
Uncle Skid Posted November 30, 2003 Author Report Posted November 30, 2003 Wow! Thanks for all the recommendations and information on Cedar! The Composer has moved up to the top of my list, with quite a few others added as well. At this rate, I'll need a second mortgage to finance my music purchases! Another disc that looks interesting is Roots, recorded a year after The Composer, in 1997. Any thoughts on this one? It's good to know that he's still touring -- according to AMG, Mr. Walton's 70th birthday is coming up in January. The sessions with the vocalists (Etta, Abbey Lincoln) also look interesting -- my wife is much more inclined to listen to jazz if someone is singing. This way, I can sneak a little Cedar into the mix! Quote
brownie Posted November 30, 2003 Report Posted November 30, 2003 Another great date with Cedar Walton is the 1977 Ray Brown Trio album (with Walton and Elvin Jones) 'Something For Lester' that was recorded for Contemporary and is out on OJC. Quote
sidewinder Posted November 30, 2003 Report Posted November 30, 2003 I'll second that recommendation. 'Something For Lester' is a real sleeper and with the usual exemplary recording by Contemporary Records too. Quote
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