Cedar Walton, RIP

[Gheorghe]

very sad news.

One of the really great pianists.

[xybert]

Sad to hear this, RIP.

[Stereojack]

I first saw Cedar with Art Farmer around 1966, next with Freddie Hubbard around 1970. Since that time got to see him many times with a number of different groups, including the great Walton/Jones/Higgins trio and later versions with David Williams. It's no exaggeration to say that he is one of my top all time favorite musicians - a marvelous pianist and a brilliant composer. I really feel like I've lost an old friend.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Stereojack

[Kevin Bresnahan]

One of the best live Jazz shows I've ever seen in my life was when I saw Jackie McLean at the Village Vanguard in a quartet setting. The rhythm section was Cedar, David Williams & Billy Higgins. What an incredible night that was. I'll always remember that night. Me & Josh Heisler sitting right in front of Jackie, so close that we could read "Jackie McLean" etched into his alto's bell.

[Dan Gould]

Happened to have this in the car so its the first I've listened to in Cedar's memory:

Available through Amazon at a nice price, if you don't mind the 'on-demand' manufacturing.

Great set of tunes the trio runs through:

1. Bremond's Blues 2. Turquoise 3. Cedar's Blues 4. Midnight Waltz 5. Holy Land 6. Theme For Jobim 7. Dear Ruth 8. The Vision 9. Bolivia

10. Ugetsu

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Waltz-Cedar-Walton-Trio/dp/B0029NYFFW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1377004948&sr=8-3&keywords=midnight+waltz

[kh1958]

It was a thrill seeing Cedar Walton at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with the Timeless All Stars, and seeing him at the Caravan of Dreams playing with David Newman.

[Indestructible!]

One of the best live Jazz shows I've ever seen in my life was when I saw Jackie McLean at the Village Vanguard in a quartet setting. The rhythm section was Cedar, David Williams & Billy Higgins. What an incredible night that was. I'll always remember that night. Me & Josh Heisler sitting right in front of Jackie, so close that we could read "Jackie McLean" etched into his alto's bell.

I did the exact same thing at the VV gigs. In addition to his name on the bell, I still vividly remember Jackie's gold rings dancing across the saxophone.

RIP, Mr. Walton. I was fortunate to see you play many times live, and you were always a gracious, humble, and wonderful man. My life was made better because of you, and all I can offer is my most hearftfelt thanks.

May your spirit continue to soar!

[mikeweil]

Kind of moving to read here how many loved the man and his music ...

[sidewinder]

The Daily Telegraph have just posted an obituary for Cedar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/10255554/Cedar-Walton.html

[mjzee]

The Daily Telegraph have just posted an obituary for Cedar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/10255554/Cedar-Walton.html

It's interesting how this article compresses his career after 1964 into one paragraph.

[mjzee]

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to how many albums/recordings he was on over the years?

I'll take a really wild guess and say 250 or perhaps 300? (both totally wild guesses), but would love to know.

OK, these two obits seem to think it's around 100 -- but that seems really low to me -- surely it's at least 150. Anyone beg to differ?

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/08/19/rip-cedar-walton

and

http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/news-mainmenu-139/70-2013/12817-jazz-breaking-news-cedar-walton-1934-2013

How many albums was he on? The following on Blue Note (from the Cuscuna/Ruppli book):

Freddie Hubbard - Hub Cap

Art Blakey - Mosaic

Art Blakey - Buhaina's Delight

Freddie Hubbard - Here To Stay

Art Blakey - Free For All

Art Blakey - Indestructible

Joe Henderson - Mode For Joe

Lee Morgan - Charisma

Blue Mitchell - Boss Horn

Lee Morgan - The Rajah

Donald Byrd - Blackjack

Hank Mobley - Third Season

Lee Morgan - Sonic Boom

Donald Byrd - Slow Drag

Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands

Lee Morgan - The Sixth Sense

Lee Morgan - Caramba!

Stanley Turrentine - Another Story

Hank Mobley - Thinking Of Home

Dexter Gordon - The Other Side of Round Midnight

Phil Woods - The Rev And I

Terumasa Hino - Unforgettable

Jackie McLean - Nature Boy

Art Blakey - Three Blind Mice

Leader dates on High Note (from their website):

The Bouncer

Voices Deep Within

Seasoned Wood

One Flight Down

Underground Memoirs

Latin Tinge

The Promised Land

Anyone care to add to this?

[Rooster_Ties]

The Daily Telegraph have just posted an obituary for Cedar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/10255554/Cedar-Walton.html

It's interesting how this article compresses his career after 1964 into one paragraph.

Yes, but that paragraph definitely leads me to believe he's on well over 100 releases...

Leaving the Messengers in 1964, Walton found himself one of the busiest musicians in jazz. For a while he acted as house pianist for Prestige Records, but seems to have spent just as much time in the studios of Blue Note, Riverside and other leading labels of the 1960s and ’70s. A rough count of his output from those years amounts to around 60 albums, not counting 10 with the Messengers. In later years he recorded a further 40 albums under his own name, and several more with occasional bands such as Eastern Rebellion and Timeless All-Stars.

Their count alone comes to at least 110 -- and I would have to think there are close to 30 or 40 more they're missing. Wild guess, mind you.

[mjzee]

I think you're right. It's fun listing them, though.

[marcello]

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to how many albums/recordings he was on over the years?

I'll take a really wild guess and say 250 or perhaps 300? (both totally wild guesses), but would love to know.

OK, these two obits seem to think it's around 100 -- but that seems really low to me -- surely it's at least 150. Anyone beg to differ?

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/08/19/rip-cedar-walton

and

http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/news-mainmenu-139/70-2013/12817-jazz-breaking-news-cedar-walton-1934-2013

How many albums was he on? The following on Blue Note (from the Cuscuna/Ruppli book):

Freddie Hubbard - Hub Cap

Art Blakey - Mosaic

Art Blakey - Buhaina's Delight

Freddie Hubbard - Here To Stay

Art Blakey - Free For All

Art Blakey - Indestructible

Joe Henderson - Mode For Joe

Lee Morgan - Charisma

Blue Mitchell - Boss Horn

Lee Morgan - The Rajah

Donald Byrd - Blackjack

Hank Mobley - Third Season

Lee Morgan - Sonic Boom

Donald Byrd - Slow Drag

Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands

Lee Morgan - The Sixth Sense

Lee Morgan - Caramba!

Stanley Turrentine - Another Story

Hank Mobley - Thinking Of Home

Dexter Gordon - The Other Side of Round Midnight

Phil Woods - The Rev And I

Terumasa Hino - Unforgettable

Jackie McLean - Nature Boy

Art Blakey - Three Blind Mice

Leader dates on High Note (from their website):

The Bouncer

Voices Deep Within

Seasoned Wood

One Flight Down

Underground Memoirs

Latin Tinge

The Promised Land

Anyone care to add to this?

1974: Pit Inn - Eastwind

1976: The Pentagon - Inner City

1989: At The Good Day Club

1995: Ironclad (Live at Yoshi's) - Monarch

I'm not even mentioning all of thew Clifford Jordan/Cedar Walton Quartet dates.

Wiki has:

As leader[edit source]

• 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: The 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[edit source]

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)
• Golden Boy (Colpix, 1964)
• Buhaina (Prestige, 1973)
• Anthenagin (Prestige, 1973)

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 Dexter Gordon

• Tangerine (Prestige, 1972 [1975])
• Generation (Prestige, 1972)

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)

With Woody Shaw

• Setting Standards (Muse, 1983)

[Rooster_Ties]

Now THAT'S more like it. You watch, we'll get the list over 150, if not even a little closer to 200.

[John Tapscott]

Add these two obscurities with Canadian bassist Dave Young (but both are very good)

Edited August 21, 2013 by John Tapscott

[.:.impossible]

I can recommend this solo record, missing from the list.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cedar+walton+blues+for+myself&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ARYUUvDKGrOgyQGjw4GYAg&ved=0CD4QsAQ&biw=768&bih=929#biv=i%7C4%3Bd%7Cl2UbYRiGfIbpBM%3A

[marcello]

Clifford Jordan Quartet - Glass Bead Games

Clifford Jordan - Half Note

Clifford Jordan Quartet - Night Of The Mark VII

Clifford Jordan And The Magic Triangle On Stage, Vol. 1

Clifford Jordan And The Magic Triangle On Stage, Vol. 2

Clifford Jordan And The Magic Triangle On Stage, Vol. 3

Clifford Jordan And The Magic Triangle - Firm Roots

Clifford Jordan - Magic In Munich

Clifford Jordan And The Magic Triangle - The Highest Mountain

Clifford Jordan - Magic In Munich

and...

Ray Brown - Something for Lester

Art Farmer - The Summer Knows

Ron Carter & Cedar Walton - Heart & Soul

Slide Hampton - Roots

Pat Martino - Strings!

Dave Pike - Pike's Groove

Milt Jackson - The Prophet Speaks

Milt Jackson - The Harem

David Williams - Up Front

Charles Davis - Blue Gardenia

You could go on and on for quite a few more titles...

[Guy Berger]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned Charles Lloyd's album Acoustic Masters I. One of the best post-comeback Lloyd albums and Cedar plays great on it.

I have to say that despite belonging to a genre of pianists I am fairly lukewarm on, I always really liked CW. Maybe the best of his style.

[mikeweil]

He's on one track of this one, too:

And he was on several of Eddie Harris' Atlantic LPs in the 1960's, great rhythm team with Ron Carter and Billy Higgins.

Edited August 21, 2013 by mikeweil

[Rooster_Ties]

Mrs. Rooster just handed me today's print edition of the Washington Post - with a great obit of Cedar...

I'll look for a link to the whole thing in a bit, but here, the entire 4th paragraph, I was right...

"He appeared on more than 400 albums - including 60 as a leader - but somehow Mr. Walton remained something of an overlooked master, acknowledged by people in the jazz world but little known to the wider public."

[Blue Train]

Dimeadozen is getting crazy. No links.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Blue Train

[mjzee]

Aren't you guys scared that those torrent sites compromise your computer's security?

[Ted O'Reilly]

Add these two obscurities with Canadian bassist Dave Young (but both are very good)

John, you're right that they're both very good, but I'm not sure I'd call any release 'obscure' with those musicians contributing, to say nothing of the fact that I wrote the liner notes for Volume One! (There's also a Volume Two, which doesn't include Cedar but does have Ellis Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut, Oliver Jones, Kenny Barron, Barry Harris and Renee Rosnes as pianists with Dave on bass.

Cedar is a particular favourite of Young, 'cause there's yet another trio release not yet noted: "Tale Of The Fingers" (Justin Time JUST 143-2) with Cedar, Dave Young and drummer Barry Elmes, recorded in Toronto on Feb. 24 & 25, 2000. It features two of Cedar's compositions: Bremond's Blues and A Bell For Bags. It's a terrific 'groove' album, and I recommend it highly...

Edited to add that the duo releases are all on Justin Time, and Walton's NPS is one of the three tracks Young and he recorded for the duet project.

[John Tapscott]

Add these two obscurities with Canadian bassist Dave Young (but both are very good)

John, you're right that they're both very good, but I'm not sure I'd call any release 'obscure' with those musicians contributing, to say nothing of the fact that I wrote the liner notes for Volume One! (There's also a Volume Two, which doesn't include Cedar but does have Ellis Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut, Oliver Jones, Kenny Barron, Barry Harris and Renee Rosnes as pianists with Dave on bass.

Cedar is a particular favourite of Young, 'cause there's yet another trio release not yet noted: "Tale Of The Fingers" (Justin Time JUST 143-2) with Cedar, Dave Young and drummer Barry Elmes, recorded in Toronto on Feb. 24 & 25, 2000. It features two of Cedar's compositions: Bremond's Blues and A Bell For Bags. It's a terrific 'groove' album, and I recommend it highly...

Edited to add that the duo releases are all on Justin Time, and Walton's NPS is one of the three tracks Young and he recorded for the duet project.

Fair enough, Ted. I meant "obscure" in the sense that most Canadian jazz releases, no matter how good, fly under the radar virtually unnoticed by the wider jazz world.

And I'm guilty in this case, too. I do not own, nor have I heard (in fact, have not even heard of it) the Tale of the Fingers CD you mentioned.