Bishop Jr, Walter - Coral Keys - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Pianist Wally Rose was the original piano player in Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band, the band that started the Traditional Jazz revival of the 1940s and '50s. He also played with Bob Scobey in 1950-51, Turk Murphy in 1952-54 and spent many years as soloist in San Francisco. In 1953 Rose recorded two influential solo LPs Ragtime Classics and Ragtime Piano Masterpieces. Rose remained active throughout the '70s and '80s. Whippin' the Keys was recorded at two sessions in 1968 and 1971. The twenty solo ragtime selections were originally issued on two Blackbird LPs (Rose on Piano, Blackbird 12007 and Whippin' the Keys, Blackbird 12010). They are reissued here for the first time.

Digitally remastered edition. Keyboardist Walter Bishop, Jr. Recorded the second album released by the Black Jazz tag, Coral Keys, a masterpiece of Blue Note-style atmospherics infused with '70s soul-jazz. But a mere two years later, Bishop, Jr. #brought a whole new sound and a whole new band into the studio for 1973Inchs Keeper of My Soul. Contrary to the album title, the name of the band was not The 4th Cycle; instead, as the liner notes put it, the name reflected 'Bishop's composition and improvisational techniques based on the Cycle of 4ths and his various personal musical cycles as performer, student and teacher.' The album also was imbued with a spirituality owed in part to his studies with yogi Parmahansa Yogananda; little wonder, then, that Keeper of My Soul was a more ambitious, electric, and 'out' record than it's predecessor. With the estimable support of flautist/sax man Ronnie Laws, bassist Gerald Brown, and vibraphonist Woody Murray, Bishop explores Keith Jarrett-like free-form passages ('Those Who Chant'), Latin stylings (Kenny Dorham's 'Blue Bossa'), and offers one of the most unusual and funky interpretations of 'Summertime' you'll ever hear. All in remastered sound with liner notes by Pat Thomas.

Bish at the Bank Live in Baltimore is an official previously unissued set of recordings by one of the unsung heroes of bebop jazz piano, Walter Bishop Jr., featuring a swinging trio with Harold Vick on saxophone, Lou McIntosh on bass and Dick Berk on drums. This double CD set was transferred from the original tape reels and, boasts 100 minutes of music and is packaged in a cardboard gatefold sleeve with an extensive 32-page booklet with essays by esteemed jazz journalist Ted Panken and jazz video journalist and friend of Bishop's, Bret Primack; rare photos by Don Schlitten, Raymod Ross and Jan Persson; plus, poetry pieces written by Bishop. The set is produced by tag owner musician Cory Weeds and InchJazz DetectiveInch producer Zev Feldman. The double set consists of 2 shows recorded in Baltimore, Maryland, disc one recorded at The Madison Club on August 28, 1966 and The Famous Ballroom on February 26, 1967 on disc two.