Cedar Walton remains one of the big names in jazz piano,
having started near the beginning of the second wave of
the jazz era, when bebop brought a new emphasis to star
improvisers. In the 1950s and early ’60s Walton hobnobbed
with Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, played with Art
Blakey and John Coltrane and developed his own hard-bop
and post-bop style. In following decades, he switched to funk
fusion and back to bop and recorded more than 60 albums
as a leader. In the mid-’60s and ’70s he worked with Abbey
Lincoln, Art Farmer, Hank Mobley and many more. He also did
electric funk fusion with his groups Mobius and Soundscapes.
These live recordings capture Cedar and a hand-picked group
of colleagues live in concert at the famed San Francisco jazz
club, the Keystone Korner.
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