Results for "Cy Walter"

Cy Walter

Born: September 16, 1915

Through the course of a musical career spanning some four decades (from 1929 through 1968), many sobriquets have been applied to describe Cy Walter’s talent, among them the “Art Tatum of Park Avenue”; the “darling of New York supper clubs”; the “champion of the genre”; the “poet of the piano”; the “Michelangelo of music”; the “grand master of harmony”; and the “Dean of Cocktail Pianists”. One WNEW radio announcer, struggling for an apt yet new accolade, even likened Cy Walter to Diogenes. Although sometimes categorized as a “jazz improvisationalist”, Cy preferred to characterize himself as a “stylist of show tunes”. The reality of Cy’s piano playing, however, was that his creative style was unique, largely defied stereotyped definition, and set its own standard.