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Walter Davis Jr.
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Walter Davis, Jr.a superb jazz pianist who played with and was a respected peer of the founding fathers of bebop, was born September 2, 1932 in Richmond, Virginia, and was reared in East Orange, New Jersey. His mother sang gospel; his father and four uncles played church and stride piano. By the time he entered high school, Walter was clearly a gifted classical pianist, but hearing Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the legendary Billy Eckstine big band changed his music and his life. In 1949, he played his first gig with Bird at the Apollo. It went so well that Bird asked Walter’s mother if he could go with him on a road tour
Frank Carlberg Trio: Reflections 1952
by Mark Corroto
How does one approach a Thelonious Monk tribute recording? Does the pianist sound like Monk? Truthfully, it is rare for a musician to replicate the high priest of bebop's distinctive and eccentric sound. Walter Davis Jr. could, but most other attempts are easily exposed as forgeries. The finest tributes are the ones that originate with the ...
Ricky Ford: From Across the Sea
by R.J. DeLuke
Ricky Ford is a badass tenor saxophonist. Many will recall his fierce and strong playing on his Muse releases in the '80s. Others may be aware that he was a stalwart member of big bands like the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the leadership of Mercer Ellington and with Charles Mingus and later the Mingus Dynasty band. ...
Howard University Jazz Ensemble: HUJE 2018
by Jack Bowers
One sure sign of spring is the arrival of the latest yearly recording by the superb Howard University Jazz Ensemble, a tradition that dates without pause from the days of vinyl in 1976, one year after the ensemble was formed by its first and only music director, Fred Irby III. For archivists and numbers-crunchers, that's forty-four ...
Cory Weeds Quintet: Live at Frankie's Jazz Club
by Jack Bowers
Yes, this is saxophonist/master of all livelihoods Cory Weeds' quintet, the year is 2018, and the group is beyond a doubt Live at Frankie's Jazz Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. But close your eyes, open your ears and it's the unapologetic re-creation of a quintessential hard-bop session from the historic Blue Note / Prestige years of ...
Ralph Peterson's GenNext Big Band: I Remember Bu
by Jack Bowers
In 1983, Art Blakey invited fellow timekeeper Ralph Peterson to perform with Blakey's two-drummer big band at the Boston Globe Jazz Festival. It was a life-changing experience for Peterson, whose debut album with his Boston-based GenNext Big Band, I Remember Bu, honors Blakey's memory (the late drummer's Muslim name was Abdullah ibn Buhaina, and he was ...
Walter Davis Jr.: Davis Cup - 1959
by Marc Davis
Every now and then, I hear a musician in a band and I think, “Damn, can we get rid of the other guys and just hear this one by himself?" That was my immediate thought after listening to Davis Cup, a hard bop cooker from 1959. Walter Davis Jr. is a pianist with a ...
The Giant Legacy of Rudy Van Gelder
by Greg Simmons
Recording Engineer Rudy Van Gelder died at home of natural causes on August 25th at the age of 91. His legacy--and it's a big one--is the countless recordings he made during modern jazz's greatest period of innovation. Almost any jazz musician of note who was making records--especially if they were working on the east coast--was captured ...
Wayne Shorter: Portrait Of A Visionary
by R.J. DeLuke
To speak with Wayne Shorter can feel like an exercise in the mystical. At times, it's stream of consciousness, ideas flowing that can reach the profound; but the direction can switch suddenly. There are frequent references to films (Shorter is a lifelong movie buff), as well as books whose subject matter run from science to philosophy. ...
Great Sidemen - Great Leaders
by Greg Simmons
Being a sideman can be a thankless job. Sure, you might get to play regularly, but you rarely get to call the tune. If your boss is a big star, the gig might even pay pretty well, but if the band is going to Fargo, North Dakota in January, brother, so are you, and you weren't ...
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