Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Cedar Walton: One Flight Down

262

Cedar Walton: One Flight Down

By

View read count
Cedar Walton: One Flight Down
Cedar Walton has been a first-call hard bop pianist for almost as long as there's been hard-bop. In a splendid, though often underappreciated, career spanning six decades, he's had notable stints in the bands of giants like JJ Johnson, Lee Morgan, Art Farmer and Art Blakey, while also leading well-respected groups of his own. Now, at seventy-two, he's one of the elder statesmen of the hard-bop genre and one of the true living legends of jazz piano.

His latest release is a typically excellent effort from the Dallas, Texas-born artist. Joined by drummer Joe Farnsworth and bassist David Williams, plus saxophonist Vincent Herring (performing on tenor instead of his usual alto) on two tracks, Walton offers a nicely varied set featuring updated versions of some of his early compositions ("One Flight Down and "The Rubber Man ), tunes by modern jazz masters (and fellow Jazz Messengers alumni) Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard and a supremely relaxed take on the classic "Time After Time.

The album's highlight, however, is a three-song medley of Billy Strayhorn tunes on which Walton displays the full depth of his artistry and subtle command at the keyboard, even adding a touch of lightness to the melancholy "Lush Life. Straight-ahead jazz piano doesn't get much better than this.

Track Listing

One Flight Down; The Rubber Man; Lush Life; Daydream; Raincheck; Seven Minds; Time After Time; Hammer Head; Little Sunflower.

Personnel

Album information

Title: One Flight Down | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: HighNote Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.