News & Updates — Walter Davis Jr
Walter Davis, Jr / Sept 2, 1932 - June 2, 1990
Happy birthday to the underrated bop pianist Walter Davis Jr. Lifelong close friends with Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell, he was a session pianist of great soulful taste. From Richmond VA, he played as a teenager with Babs Gonzales and got a big gig at the Apollo with Charlie Parker in '49, quitting high school to go on the road with him. He moved to NYC in '50 and made his first recordings with the Max Roach group. He toured South America & the Middle East with Gillespie in '56, and would play with Diz off and on...