THE BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY:: BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " CEDAR ANTHONY WALTON Jr " WAS AN AMERICAN HARD BOP JAZZ PIANIST HE WAS ART BRAKEY'S DRUMMER IN HIS BAND : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY 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 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", also known as "Fantasy in D".^[1]

Biography

Walton was born and grew up in Dallas, Texas.^[2] His mother Ruth was an aspiring concert pianist, and was Walton's initial teacher.^[3]She also 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.^[4] He began emulating recordings of these artists from an early age.

After briefly attending Dillard University in New Orleans,^[2] he went to the University of Denver as a composition major originally, but was encouraged to switch to a music education program targeted to set up a career in the local public school system. This switch later proved extremely useful since Walton learned to play and arrange for various instruments, a talent he would hone 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 various after-hours sessions around the city of 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 Birdlandat that time.

Walton was drafted into the U.S. Army, and stationed in Germany, cutting short his rising status in the after-hours scene. While in the Army, he played with musicians Leo Wright,Don Ellis, and Eddie Harris. Upon his discharge after two years, Walton picked up where he left off, playing as a sideman with Kenny Dorham (on whose 1958 album This Is the Moment! Walton made his recording debut),^[5] J. J. Johnson, and with Gigi Gryce.^[6] Joining the Jazztet, led by Benny Golson and Art Farmer, Walton played with this group 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 for three years, on the same day as Freddie Hubbard. In this group, which also featuredWayne Shorter, he demonstrated a keen sense of arranging in originals such 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, where in addition to releasing his own recordings, he recorded with Sonny Criss, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss, and Charles McPherson. For a year, he served as Abbey Lincoln's accompanist, and recorded with Lee Morgan from 1966 to 1968. During the mid-1970s, he led the funk group Mobius.^[6]

Many of Walton's compositions have been adopted as jazz standards, including "Firm Roots", "Bolivia", "Holy Land," "Mode for Joe" and "Cedar's Blues". "Bolivia" is perhaps his best-known composition, while one of his oldest is "Fantasy in D", recorded under the title "Ugetsu" by Art Blakey in 1963.^[7]

In January 2010, Walton was inducted as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters.^[8]

After a brief illness, Walton died on August 19, 2013, at his home in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 79.^[9]