Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer. Several of his compositions have become jazz standards, including "Mosaic", "Bolivia", "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Ugetsu/Fantasy in D".William Yardley, "Cedar Walton, Pianist and Composer, Dies at 79", The New York Times, August 20, 2013.
Early life Walton was born and grew up in Dallas, Texas."Pianist-Composer Cedar Walton Dies at Age 79" , DownBeat, August 20, 2013. His mother Ruth, an aspiring concert pianist, was his first teacher,John Fordham, "Cedar Walton obituary", Guardian, August 23, 2013. and took him to jazz performances around Dallas. Walton cited Nat King Cole, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum as his major influences on piano.Deardra Shuler, "Cedar Walton and Barry Harris to play Jazz at Lincoln Center" , New York Amsterdam News, June 20, 2013. He began emulating these artists' recordings from an early age.
After briefly attending Dillard University in New Orleans, he entered the University of Denver as a composition major, but was encouraged to switch to a music-education program with the goal of a career in the local public school system. This later proved extremely useful, as he learned to play and arrange for various instruments, a talent he honed with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
Walton was tempted by the promise of New York City through his associations with John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Richie Powell, whom he met at after-hours sessions around Denver, Colorado. In 1955, he decided to leave school and drove with a friend to New York City. He quickly got recognition from Johnny Garry, who ran Birdland at the time.
Later life and career Walton was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany, cutting short his rising status in the after-hours jazz scene. In the Army he played with musicians Leo Wright, Don Ellis and Eddie Harris. On his discharge after two years, he picked up where he left off, playing as a sideman with Kenny Dorham, on whose 1958 album This Is the Moment!, he made his recording debut."Cedar Walton" (obituary), The Daily Telegraph, August 20, 2013. He joined the Jazztet led by Benny Golson and Art Farmer and played with them from 1958 to 1961. In April 1959 he recorded an alternate take of "Giant Steps" with John Coltrane, though he did not solo. In the early 1960s Walton joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as a pianist-arranger (on the same day Freddie Hubbard joined the group), where, for the next three years, he wrote and arranged such originals as "Ugetsu" and "Mosaic".
He left the Messengers in 1964 and by the late 1960s was part of the house rhythm section at Prestige Records. In addition to releasing his own recordings there, he recorded with Sonny Criss, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss, and Charles McPherson. For a year, he was Abbey Lincoln's accompanist, and recorded with Lee Morgan from 1966 to 1968. In the mid-1970s he led the funk group Mobius. He arranged and recorded for Etta James from the mid-1990s on, helping her win a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (RCA Victor) in 1994.Appelbaum, L., Before and After: Cedar Walton, JazzTimes, November 5, 2004.
Many of Walton's compositions have become jazz standards, including "Firm Roots", "Bolivia" (perhaps his best known), "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Cedar's Blues". One of his oldest compositions is "Fantasy in D", recorded as "Ugetsu" by Art Blakey in 1963,Bailey, Phil (1985), Volume 35 – Cedar Walton, Jamey Aebersold, 1985. and as "Polar AC" by Freddie Hubbard, first in 1971.
In January 2010, Walton was inducted as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.Lifetime Honors, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters.
Billy Higgins partnership and The Magic Triangle Walton played and recorded with drummer Billy Higgins from the mid-1960s through the 1990s. Higgins and Walton first recorded together in 1965 for Eddie Harris's The In Sound LP, and Higgins played on Walton's first album, Cedar! (1967). They continued to play and record together regularly through the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1970s, bassist Sam Jones formed a working trio, The Magic Triangle, with Walton and Higgins. They recorded albums under both Walton's and Jones's leadership, and played on several 1970s albums by Art Farmer and Clifford Jordan (including Jordan's Glass Bead Games and Farmer's Art Farmer Quintet at Boomers). Though they did not record as The Magic Triangle, Jordan's albums Clifford Jordan and the Magic Triangle on Stage, Firm Roots, and The Highest Mountain cited the trio's informal name. They also backed up Hank Mobley, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and Idrees Sulieman in the 1970s on live and studio recordings. Drummer Louis Hayes sometimes replaced Higgins during this period for recordings and live performances.
In 1975, The Magic Triangle became the core of the Eastern Rebellion jazz collective, which featured (at different times) saxophonists George Coleman, Bob Berg and Ralph Moore, trombonist Curtis Fuller, and trumpeter Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros. Eastern Rebellion released seven albums between 1975 and 1994, all featuring Walton and Higgins.
Sam Jones died in late 1981, and Walton and Higgins carried on with bassist David "Happy" Williams, who also joined them on the four final Eastern Rebellion recordings. Walton, Williams, and Higgins recorded regularly throughout the 1980s and early 1990s under Walton's leadership. Walton and Higgins also appeared on recordings by Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Slide Hampton, Junior Cook, Bobby Hutcherson, Frank Morgan, and Jackie McLean (sometimes with other bassists in place of Williams).
With bassist Ron Carter, Walton and Higgins recorded two live albums in 1991 at the Sweet Basil Jazz Club as the Sweet Basil Trio. A third Sweet Basil Trio record, this time with Williams on bass, was recorded in 1993.
Writing of The Magic Triangle's collaborations with Clifford Jordan, pianist and essayist Ethan Iverson wrote: "Taken as a collection, the Jordan–Walton canon from the seventies is some of the best jazz ever recorded....If I had to pick only one from that collaboration for a desert isle, it would be Jordan's Night of the Mark VII."
Death After a brief illness, Walton died on August 19, 2013, at his home in Brooklyn, New York, at age 79.Mark Memmott, "Jazz Pianist Cedar Walton Dies", NPR, August 19, 2013.
Discography As leader/co-leader Year recorded Title Label Year released Notes1967 Cedar! Prestige 19671968 Spectrum Prestige 19681969 The Electric Boogaloo Song Prestige 19691969 Soul Cycle Prestige 19701972Breakthrough! with Hank Mobley Cobblestone 19721973 A Night at Boomers, Vol. 1 Muse 1973 live1973 A Night at Boomers, Vol. 2 Muse 1973 live1974 Firm Roots Muse 1976 live1974 Pit Inn East Wind 1975 live1975 Mobius RCA 1975 1976 The Pentagon East Wind 1976 1976 Beyond Mobius RCA 1976 1977 First Set SteepleChase 1978 live1977 Second Set SteepleChase 1979 live1977 Third Set SteepleChase 1983 live1977–1978 Animation Columbia 1978 1980 Soundscapes Columbia 1980 1980 The Maestro with Abbey Lincoln Muse 1981 1981 Piano Solos Clean Cuts 1981 1981 Heart & Soul with Ron Carter Timeless 1982 1982 Among Friends Theresa 1989 live1983 The All American Trio with Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette Baystate 1984 1985 Cedar's Blues Red 1985 live1985 The Trio 1 Red 1986 live1985 The Trio 2 Red 1986 live1985 Cedar Walton Timeless 1986 1985 Bluesville Time Criss Cross 1986 1986 The Trio 3 Red 1986 live1986 Blues for Myself Red 1986 1986 Cedar Walton Plays Delos 1987 1988 Standards with the VIP Trio California Breeze 1988 1988 Standards Vol 2 with the VIP Trio California Breeze 1988 1990 Duo with David Williams Red 1991 also released as Off Minor1990 As Long as There's Music Muse 1993 1992 Cedar Walton at Maybeck Concord Jazz 1993 live1992 Manhattan Afternoon Criss Cross 1994 1996 Composer Astor Place 1996 1997 Roots Astor Place 1997 2001 The Promise Land HighNote 2001 2002 Latin Tinge HighNote 2002 2005 Underground Memoirs HighNote 2005 2005 Midnight Waltz Venus 2005 2006 One Flight Down HighNote 2006 2008 Seasoned Wood HighNote 2008 2009 Voices Deep Within HighNote 2009 2010? Cedar Chest HighNote 2010 2010 Song of Delilah Venus 2011 2011 The Bouncer HighNote 2011
Posthumous releases Reliving The Moment – Live At The Keystone Korner (HighNote, 2014) – live rec. 1977–78 Charmed Circle (HighNote, 2017) – rec. 1979
As leader of Eastern Rebellion 1975: Eastern Rebellion with George Coleman, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1976; Impulse, 1988) 1977: Eastern Rebellion 2 with Bob Berg, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1977) 1979: Eastern Rebellion 3 with Curtis Fuller, Bob Berg, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1980) 1983: Eastern Rebellion 4 with Curtis Fuller, Bob Berg, Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, David Williams & Billy Higgins (Timeless, 1984) 1990: Mosaic with Ralph Moore, David Williams & Billy Higgins (MusicMasters, 1992) 1992: Simple Pleasure with Ralph Moore, David Williams & Billy Higgins (MusicMasters, 1993) 1994: Just One of Those... Nights at the Village Vanguard with Ralph Moore, David Williams & Billy Higgins (MusicMasters, Jazz Heritage, 1994)
As a member The Timeless All Stars It's Timeless (Timeless, 1982) Timeless Heart (Timeless, 1983) Essence (Delos, 1986) Time for the Timeless All Stars (Early Bird, 1991)
As sideman
With Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt 1973: God Bless Jug and Sonny (Prestige, 2001) 1973: Left Bank Encores (Prestige, 2001)
With Art Blakey Mosaic (Blue Note, 1961) Three Blind Mice (Blue Note, 1962) Caravan (Riverside, 1963) Ugetsu (Riverside, 1963) Buhaina's Delight (Blue Note, 1963) 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) Blackjack (Blue Note, 1968)
With Sonny Criss Up, Up and Away (Prestige, 1967) The Beat Goes On! (Prestige, 1968)
With Kenny Dorham This Is the Moment! (Riverside, 1958) Blue Spring with Cannonball Adderley (Riverside, 1959)
With Art Farmer The Time and the Place (Columbia, 1967) The Art Farmer Quintet Plays the Great Jazz Hits (Columbia, 1967) Homecoming (Mainstream, 1971) Yesterday's Thoughts (East Wind, 1975) To Duke with Love (East Wind, 1975) The Summer Knows (East Wind, 1976) Art Farmer Quintet at Boomers (East Wind, 1976)
With Curtis Fuller Soul Trombone (Impulse!, 1961) Smokin' (Mainstream, 1972)
With Benny Golson Take a Number from 1 to 10 (Argo, 1961) This Is for You, John (Timeless, 1987) – rec. 1983
With Dexter Gordon 1972: Generation (Prestige, 1972) 1972: Tangerine (Prestige, 1975) 1980: Gotham City (Columbia, 1981)
With Steve Grossman Love Is the Thing (Red, 1985) A Small Hotel (Dreyfus Jazz, 1993)
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, 1973) – rec. 1966–73 How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)
With Jimmy Heath Jimmy Heath Orchestra, Really Big! (Riverside, 1960) The Quota (Riverside, 1961) Triple Threat (Riverside, 1962)
With Billy Higgins Soweto (Red, 1979) Once More (Red, 1980) The Soldier (Timeless, 1981) – rec. 1979 Bridgework (Contemporary, 1987) Billy Higgins Quintet (Sweet Basil, 1993)
With Freddie Hubbard Hub Cap (Blue Note, 1961) The Body & the Soul (Impulse!, 1963) Here to Stay (Blue Note, 1979) – rec. 1962 Bolivia (Musicmasters, 1991)
With Bobby Hutcherson Highway One (Columbia, 1978) Farewell Keystone (Evidence, 1992) – rec. 1982
With Milt Jackson Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art (Limelight, 1965)