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Willy Dalton

Willy Dalton has been a working professional guitarist since 1970. Born in Manhattan, he began performing professionally in San Francisco, moved to Southern Florida in 1974, and settled in the NY Metropolitan Area in 1977. Well known artists he has performed or recorded with include Bo Diddley, Cissy Houston, Ben E. King, The Shirelles, Pam Tate, Mary Wells, Eddie Monteiro, Joe Cocuzzo, Daniel Ponce, Guillerme Franco and many others. He has also arranged, produced , and supervised the manufacture of over 25,000 compact discs for various artists. He formed his own record label and released 4 CDs by The Dalton Gang--a 10 piece band he has led as guitarist/composer/arranger since 1979. The most recent Dalton Gang cd, “Last Year’s Waltz” was released in the summer of 2006. In addition to live performances with the Dalton Gang and others, he has arranged and composed music in many formats for ensembles ranging from small jazz groups to big bands to symphony orchestras. In 1997 he received a grant from the Urban History Initiative to compose a work for string quartet and guitar. The composition, “Riverwalk”, premiered in January 1998.The CD "Riverwalk", released in September of 2009, includes the recording of that five movement piece and four pieces for solo nylon string guitar. Besides his interest in jazz and pop guitar styles Willy has also studied classical and flamenco guitar. His flamenco inspired piece, WTC911, was one of the 19 original compositions included in the September Rising CD tribute to the victims of 9/11. From 2003-2006 he was the bandleader and arranger of the 18 piece house band at Richie Cecere’s Restaurant in Montclair, NJ. He wrote over 100 original arrangements for that band. In June of 2006 Willy formed the 18 piece Real Deal Big Band. He has private guitar students and is an adjunct guitar instructor at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, NJ, where he lives.

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Willy Dalton & The Seraphim String Quartet "Riverwalk," 2009 The ground where folk music intersects with classical was perhaps first visited by George Gershwin in 1924 with the debut of "Rhapsody in Blue." Some have since questioned whether the natural spontaneity of jazz comes off as too contrived when scored for classical instruments as Gershwin did with "Rhapsody." Willy Dalton, on his CD "Riverwalk," proves that this criticism doesn't hold when fingerstyle music is scored to be paired with that of a string quartet. Supported through a grant from The Urban History Initiative, "Riverwalk" includes five short, but ingenious, tracks which remind us that fingerstyle and classical idioms are branches from the same heritage, and which commingle very naturally. "Ducks on the Water" and "The 4th of July" especially evoke the pastoral polytonality of Darius Milhaud's works. © Alan Fark, www.minor7th.com

Dalton Gang by Zan Stewart, Star-Ledger Staff Tuesday November 20, 2007, "Willy Dalton, New Jersey's jazz-meets-blues-meets-pop-and-funk guitarist, arranger and composer, knows how to make music fun while maintaining artistic vigor. "

"Just for Tonight is an excellent album and makes the listener long to hear more.The group is one of the most unique ensembles in jazz and is equally at home in Latin music and Tower of Power-style funk."--William Grim, All Music Guide

"Paterson, New Jersey has been keeping a secret from the national jazz community that has finally been exposed with Last Year’s Waltz, the fourth album from The Dalton Gang on the Second Step Music label. After more than 25 years together, this atypical ten-piece workingman aggregation from a typical blue-collar town stands on the brink of wider recognition with a varied program of eleven tunes that include inventive arrangements of classic songs by Thelonious Monk, Gene Ammons and blues legend Percy Mayfield. But it is the intriguing compositions by the leader of the band that may well elevate their musical social order nationwide."--Mark Ruffin, Listen Here! The Public Radio Jazz Review, Jazz Editor, Chicago Magazine

"The ten-piece Dalton Gang packs a steady brass punch pumped by the beats of funk, Latin, blues and New Orleans styles topped by shards of syncopated bop. These 12 tracks are delivered with well-honed precision"--Jazz Times

"Although most of the members play their trade professionally with other prestigious outfits, when they come together under the leadership of guitarist Willy Dalton, a certain individual magic occurs. The groove is undeniable, the horn arrangements tight and tasty, and melodies distinctive"--Music Paper

...Every once in a while, amid the usual morass of less imaginative smooth jazz releases, an indie project comes out of nowhere with the power to capture various places in the imagination and retain a stronghold of hope there. The winner of the originality prize this month is the Dalton Gang, whose swinging brass craziness infuses Miami Shadows with more pep than should be legal. The Gang might be a little intimidating for typical NAC radio, which is all the more reason to love it."-- Jazziz

"Regular gigging in the New York metropolitan area has broadened the range of this quick-draw funk-jazz aggregate. This 10-piece unit plays brisk, snappy, catchy jazz with the precision of a small combo and the power of a big band."--CMJ

"This little-known release is worth investigating"-- Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene

"The Dalton Gang is a band that would have been at home in the '30's and '60's, as well as the '90's. Driven by a five-piece rhythm section and five horns, it can swing and jump the blues, the way they did in Kansas City in the '30's, and a rhythm 'n blues soul twist--'60's Memphis style--or rock out in extended jams."--George Kanzler, The Star-Ledger

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