Walter Davis, Jr.

An frequently remarkable and inventive bebop and really difficult bop pianist, Walter Davis Jr. once still left the music globe to be always a tailor, but came back. A good soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed an excellent body of function while never learning to be a high-profile name actually inside the jazz community. Davis used Babs Gonzales’ Three Bips & a Bop as a teenager, after that relocated from Richmond to NY in the first ’50s. He used Maximum Roach and Charlie Parker, documenting with Roach in 1953. He became a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s music group in 1956, and toured the center East and SOUTH USA. He also performed in Paris with Donald Byrd in 1958 along with Artwork Blakey & the Jazz Messengers in 1959. After retiring from music for some time to perform his tailor store, Davis came back within the ’60s, generating records and composing arrangements for an area NJ group. He analyzed music in India in 1969, and used Sonny Rollins in the first ’70s. Davis experienced another stint using the Jazz Messengers in 1975, after that led his personal group in NY. Davis documented for Blue Notice, Mapleshade, Debut, Denon, and Crimson and for numerous French brands. He did classes with Roach, Rollins, Sonny Criss, Jackie McLean, Pierre Michelot, Archie Shepp, Kenny Clarke, Byrd, and Blakey, amongst others. Some Davis times can be found on CD.