sam walker
talking with johnny case over dinner at sardines the other night, i gained a little insight into the development of some local jazz gtrists. sure, clint strong might seem like a force of nature _today_, but back in prehistory, before he filled the gtr chair in merle haggard's band in between roy nichols and red volkaert, teenage clint considered himself strictly riddim until his teacher, slim richey, started him out learning howard roberts 'n' barney kessel solos note-for-note. of course, it wasn't long before the youngster had mastered the syntax of bebop sufficiently to make his _own_ statements, and in the fullness of time, to develop the intimidatingly relentless swing 'n' melodic invention for which he's justifiably well known.
i was similarly surprised to learn that sam walker had studied harmony with johnny for awhile, altho on reflection, it makes perfect sense. i only became aware of sam through his work on dave and daver's jazz lines cd of a coupla yrs back, his appearance with them (in front of 15 die-hard fans and a quarter mile of empty v.i.p. seats) at that year's jazz by the boulevard fest, and a walker-initiated tribute to thelonious monk that played to an equally appreciative (but much larger) audience at arts fifth avenue earlier this yr. maybe it's because sam lives in arlington and does most of his work in dallas, while i tend to venture east of benito's as infrequently as i can; in any event, my bad. his trio with bassist kyp green and drummer roy snodgrass has been a thriving concern since 2002, and the individual players have associations that go back considerably farther than that.
while walker might not be the monolithic shredder clint is, or possess paul metzger's blues-drenched facility or keith wingate's filigree elegance, he's an axe-slinger of great musicality and taste whom i like to think of as the metromess' own jim hall. like hall, walker's sound is characterized by fluid economy, warmth, and subtle shadings. you can hear what i'm jawin' about on his sam walker trio plus one cd, recorded at big time audio in dallas back in 2004 and just released. the "plus one" in this case is versatile vibist joey carter, a scintillating improvisor who adds timbral variation and an additional solo voice on several of the tracks. the walker disc is the third outstanding recorded appearance for carter in a little over a yr (the other two being bluesman james hinkle's straight ahead blues? and love's bitter rage, the "peace and justice suite" by johnny case's alter ego jhon kasen).
the toons on sam's disc are a mixed bag: there's a seldom-heard monk composition ("eronel"), a handful of standards (sammy cahn's "i fall in love too easily," henry mancini's "mr. lucky," and toots thielemans' "bluesette"), and a wes montgomery dedication to milt jackson, but the balance are walker originals that cover all the bases, from blues (the opening "who got in?") to ballads ("november") to modal explorations ("weathering the storm"). the recording captures with unornamented clarity the interaction between the trio members, allowing the listener to marvel, f'rinstance, at the ease with which walker and bassist green play unisons and comp behind each other's solos, or the near-telepathic interplay between green and drummer snodgrass.
in its modest way, the cd is a major achievement, making me hope that walker 'n' his men will spend more time on this side of the tarrant county line. (the trio will be at lightcatcher winery up lake worth way on sunday, may 28th, but unfortunately, i'm otherwise engaged that day.) i'm also looking forward to the reprise of the monk trib that arts fifth avenue is supposedly planning for october. film, as they say, at 11.
i was similarly surprised to learn that sam walker had studied harmony with johnny for awhile, altho on reflection, it makes perfect sense. i only became aware of sam through his work on dave and daver's jazz lines cd of a coupla yrs back, his appearance with them (in front of 15 die-hard fans and a quarter mile of empty v.i.p. seats) at that year's jazz by the boulevard fest, and a walker-initiated tribute to thelonious monk that played to an equally appreciative (but much larger) audience at arts fifth avenue earlier this yr. maybe it's because sam lives in arlington and does most of his work in dallas, while i tend to venture east of benito's as infrequently as i can; in any event, my bad. his trio with bassist kyp green and drummer roy snodgrass has been a thriving concern since 2002, and the individual players have associations that go back considerably farther than that.
while walker might not be the monolithic shredder clint is, or possess paul metzger's blues-drenched facility or keith wingate's filigree elegance, he's an axe-slinger of great musicality and taste whom i like to think of as the metromess' own jim hall. like hall, walker's sound is characterized by fluid economy, warmth, and subtle shadings. you can hear what i'm jawin' about on his sam walker trio plus one cd, recorded at big time audio in dallas back in 2004 and just released. the "plus one" in this case is versatile vibist joey carter, a scintillating improvisor who adds timbral variation and an additional solo voice on several of the tracks. the walker disc is the third outstanding recorded appearance for carter in a little over a yr (the other two being bluesman james hinkle's straight ahead blues? and love's bitter rage, the "peace and justice suite" by johnny case's alter ego jhon kasen).
the toons on sam's disc are a mixed bag: there's a seldom-heard monk composition ("eronel"), a handful of standards (sammy cahn's "i fall in love too easily," henry mancini's "mr. lucky," and toots thielemans' "bluesette"), and a wes montgomery dedication to milt jackson, but the balance are walker originals that cover all the bases, from blues (the opening "who got in?") to ballads ("november") to modal explorations ("weathering the storm"). the recording captures with unornamented clarity the interaction between the trio members, allowing the listener to marvel, f'rinstance, at the ease with which walker and bassist green play unisons and comp behind each other's solos, or the near-telepathic interplay between green and drummer snodgrass.
in its modest way, the cd is a major achievement, making me hope that walker 'n' his men will spend more time on this side of the tarrant county line. (the trio will be at lightcatcher winery up lake worth way on sunday, may 28th, but unfortunately, i'm otherwise engaged that day.) i'm also looking forward to the reprise of the monk trib that arts fifth avenue is supposedly planning for october. film, as they say, at 11.
posted by stashdauber at 7:50 AM
2 Comments:
Also worth noting is a local guy named Dave Barry who is a bit of a recluse. This guy though is right up there. He's got the George Benson at nineteen thing covered. Just kills it.
I've heard him live twice, about eight years apart. The first time was at Pam Prides old place on seventh and the second was at The Jazz Cafe on a Sunday.
He's also on arecord by Quamen Fowler with Joey Carter on vibes.
he has a record of his own but it's a bit hobbled by bad production etc. the Quamen thing though is definitely worth listening to.
ah, pam's.
the place where i heard her say the second funniest thing i've ever heard any performer say onstage (in this case, to a heckler): "i'd tell you to suck my dick, but it's out in the car."
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