Walter Norris
Walter Norris was a brilliant pianist, a virtuoso whose improvisations could be both very complex harmonically yet often remain melodic. He would have been better known in the U.S. if he had not spent so much time in Germany. Norris worked with Howard Williams in Arkansas (1944-1950) as a teenager, was in Houston with Jimmy Ford (1952-1953), led his own trio in Las Vegas (1953-1954), and then settled in Los Angeles. He was on quite a few sessions during the latter half of the 1950s, most notably with Jack Sheldon, Frank Rosolino, and Herb Geller, in addition to Ornette Coleman's first record (1958); he did his best to fit into the latter setting, but (other than Paul Bley at the Hillcrest Club) it was the last time for decades that Coleman would use a pianist. The music director of the Playboy Club during 1963-1970, Norris was with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra during 1974-1976. After a stay in Scandinavia and a brief stint with Charles Mingus, Norris moved to Berlin in 1977, where he taught and performed for the remainder of his life in music. In the 1990s, Walter Norris visited the U.S. several times, recording dates for Concord and displaying his impressive musical growth of the previous 20 years. But he always returned to his home in Berlin, where he died on October 29, 2011, two months prior to what would have been his 80th birthday.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
Discography
9 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Trio
Hal Gaylor, Walter Norris, Billy Bean
Jazz - Released by Original Jazz Classics on Jan 1, 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 4 (Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Berkeley, CA / April 1990)
Jazz - Released by Concord Jazz on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Last Set - Live at the A-Trane (Live)
Walter Norris & Leszek Mozdzer
Jazz - Released by ACT Music on Oct 26, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Drifting
Jazz - Released by ENJA RECORDS Matthias Winckelmann on Jan 1, 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ascent of Denali
Literature - Released by Audioliterature on Feb 28, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Saga of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald
Literature - Released by Audioliterature on Feb 28, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex
Literature - Released by Audioliterature on Feb 28, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ascent of Mount St. Elias, Alaska
Literature - Released by Audioliterature on Feb 28, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Woodcraft
Literature - Released by Audioliterature on Feb 28, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo