aldo vigorito, putter smith, mads vinding, mike richmond, george mraz, larance marable, joe henderson, mike heyman, larry grenadier, neil swainson, harold jones, joe pass, chet baker, aladar pege, ronnie bedford, charles mingus, danny richmond, ricky ford, jack walrath, red mitchell, dexter gordon, red rodney, thad jones, jerry dodgion, lee katzman, pepper adams, makaya ntshoko, billy bean, hal gaylor, johnny griffin, louie bellson, harry ’sweets’ edison, stan getz, scott lafarro, ornette coleman, don cherry, don payne, billy higgins, clifford brown, max roach, shelly manne, shorty rodgers, eric dolphy, bill holman, gary frommer, morris edwards, sonny criss, teddy edwards, buddy woodson, gene gammage, vido musso, zoot sims, frank rosolino, charlie mariano, max bennett, mel lewis, herb geller, jack sheldon, ralph pena, bob whitlock, george duvivier, chico hamilton, carson smith, buddy colette, jimmy ford, mose allison, bitsy mullins, billy scarlett, howard williams and many others.
Influences
mary metcalf norris (his mother and 1st piano teacher), john summers (his 2nd piano teacher, 1936), movie scores (saturday theater matinees, 1930s), hearing roy eldridge on the radio, glenn metcalf (walter's cousin, an organist), seeing virgil fox perform, hearing boogie-woogie on the radio (one morning before school, 1940), the anonymous soldier from nyc who visited his home and played jazz piano (that night, in his bed before going to sleep, walter told himself he would grow up to be a jazz pianist), charlie parker, dizzy gillespie, art tatum, nat cole, lester young, erroll garner, tony d'amore, robert tally, phineas newborn jr, jimmy ford, heida hermanns, sviatoslav richter, thad jones, frank fernandez, noel lee, and many others.
Walter Norris is one of the world's great pianists. Though he's most known inside the jazz world, having performed and recorded with many leading artists, the most fascinating thing about Walter is how his work has continued to evolve. He has blurred the line between jazz and classical music, joining the ideas of Bach, Mozart and Chopin to those of Louie Armstrong, Art Tatum and Charlie Parker, building on the past to make a music that is very much of the present, even of the future.
“…Norris has moved beyond his bebop beginnings.” ~ Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times
Walter Norris was born Dec. 27, 1931, in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the United States. He began studying the piano when he was a child and was playing professionally by the age of 12. In the 1950s he lived in Los Angeles and was part of the West Coast scene, working with a long list of artists including Art Pepper, Buddy DeFranco, Frank Rosolino, Charlie Mariano, Jack Sheldon, Teddy Edwards, Eric Dolphy, Zoot Sims, Herb Geller, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, Stan Getz, Johnny Griffin, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Leroy Vinnegar and Louie Bellson.
In 1960 Walter moved to New York City and formed The Trio with guitarist Billy Bean and bassist Hal Gaylor and recorded the album "The Trio." He was musical director of the New York City Playboy Club from 1963 until 1970 and during that time studied classical piano with Heida Hermanns at the Manhattan School of Music.
In 1974 Walter recorded the album "Drifting" with bassists Aladar Pege and George Mraz, his first album under his own name. The same year he joined the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra.
In 1976 he performed in Europe with Dexter Gordon, Zoot Sims, Red Rodney and Red Mitchell, then returned to the states and became a member of the Charles Mingus Quintet.
In January of 1977 Walter left the United States and moved to Berlin, Germany, to perform with the Sender-Fries Radio Orchestra. He continued to record, releasing "Synchronicity" (1978, w/Aladar Pege), "Stepping on Cracks" (1978, w/George Mraz and Ronnie Bedford) and "Winter Rose" (1980, w/Aladar Pege). In 1988 he began the jazz program at Berlin's Hochschule der Kunste and taught there until 94.
In 1990 Walter signed a 5-album contract with the Concord label and released "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall" (1990), "Lush Life" (1990, with Neil Swainson and Harold Jones), "Sunburst" (1991, w/Joe Henderson, Larry Grenadier and Mike Heyman), "Love Every Moment" (1992, w/Putter Smith and Larance Marable), and "Hues of Blues" (1995, w/George Mraz). In 1998 he formed his own label to produce the album "From Another Star" with bassist Mike Richmond.
Lately Walter has spent a great amount of time creating an autobiography (not yet released) and a book that contains his practice and performance techniques (available very soon). He is the subject of a documentary film, "From Another Star: The Life and Work of Walter Norris," which is scheduled for release in May 2009, in his home state of Arkansas, in the US. Walter will attend the premier and perform. The exact dates are pending, but will be posted soon.
Walter continues to practice hours a day as he has since his childhood.
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What critics have said:
“Without any doubt, Walter Norris is one of the most important solo pianists in the second half of the twentieth century. His inexhaustible wealth of ideas and outstanding pianistic mastery is not to be found in the world of jazz.” ~ Jorg Engels, Jazz Podium
“Walter Norris is a brilliant pianist, a virtuoso…..” ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
“…..it is no exaggeration to call him one of a kind. Many pianists have distinctive styles and sounds, Norris, however, goes beyond any classification, either as a pianist-composer or a visionary. ~ Francesca Nemko, Jazz Now
“Possessed of a demonic technique and a rare harmonic imagination, he divides his time between the original works, mocked by the ever-shifting iridescence of his chordal concepts, and versions of standard tunes that he elevates to new levels of sophistication. ~ Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times
“Walter Norris makes music with a staggering facility…..great and vivacious piano-playing, somewhere between Mozart and Bartok.” ~ Baldur Bockhoff, Suddeutsche Zeitung
“This is inebriating music, music which celebrates the piano both as an instrument and as a concept.” ~ Gary Giddins, The Village Voice
“If classical keyboardists were still expected to improvise as in previous centuries, there might be more pianists like Walter Norris.” ~ Jon Pareles, New York Times
“Walter Norris is a consummate pianist and deep rhapsodist whom the Japanese, in their reverence for artistry, would call a living national treasure.” ~ Fred Bouchard, DownBeat
“Walter Norris is one of the elder statesmen of the jazz piano.” ~ Jorg Knobloch, All About Jazz
“…Walter Norris has been and continues to be one of my favorite pianists.” ~ Fred Jung, Jazz Weekly
“Walter Norris is the Art Tatum of the 90’s.” ~ Zan Stewart, Los Angeles Times
“In many ways, I think Walter may be unparalleled at this particular time. Well, for all time. I can’t think of anybody in the past that does the things that he does.” ~ Whitney Balliett
between dark matter and bright stars.... between the local and the nonlocal......... between time and no time.... between your s p a c e and my s p a c e there is a place for me to wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
hi walter, while i'm singin' a song about the sex life of a translinguistic luffa on speed, residing in room 23 of the belly of a smo- ked fish.......... i thank you for letting me enter yourspace on a day where the promise of a mandatory vaccination against the swine flu seems to announ- ce the second coming of the devil disguised as the president of the WHO? wolf
Hi Walter: i enyoyed so much listening. amazing and moder composer and pianist. Thanks for the frienship Eduardo Orestes www.myspace.com/eduardoorestes
I’ve uploaded my live singing and chat from the radio show the other Sunday. Hope you enjoy the live 3 new tracks I sang and all my giggling! Wishing you a great weekend ahead :)
Thanks for adding me to your list of friends. I was very surprised with your stylistic approach when I heard your music here; solid creativity, new sounds from the piano ;-)
I’m back on air tom eve (Sunday). I will be played again on The Dave Charles radio show, 102.3 hfm, between 20.00 to 22.00 gmt and I WILL HAVING A LIVE CHAT ON AIR !!!!!! AHHHHHHHH. Be great if you could listen in :)
Wishing you a great weekend as always x
We value every new jazz "friend" we find. So, we appreciate your add very much.
If you are interested in having serious jazz people visit your MySpace page and hear your music .... this may help.
GET MYSPACE "SPECIAL" LISTING FREE!
We have a jazz blog with over 250 playlists on it. Each day hundreds of jazz fans come to this blog to listen to music. These are the people you want to see your site.
We offer a limited number of listings on the blog to let the jazz fans know about some interesting jazz artists on MySpace (that would be you). A 6 month listing is only $24 (thats just $1 a week).
Hi Walter! Thank you for joining my friends on my new "Russian Page" too. I wrote a blog on both pages about my new CD: FLIRTY GERTY Best wishes! Bye, Andrea Bartelucci
the meister ...... privatly on stage for friends ......b there ! ..... perhaps some jam after his gig, bring a drink if u like. or buy a drink there 4 special price. no cover charge...... c u there ... andreas
Dear Walter, thanks for your friendship. You are a wonderful musician and a great pianist. Here's an easy song to make you smile: Selena Best wishes Andrea Bartelucci