Cedar Walton remains one of the big names in jazz piano, having started near the beginning of the second wave of the jazz era, when bebop brought a new emphasis to star improvisers. In the 1950s and early ’60s Walton hobnobbed with Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, played with Art Blakey and John Coltrane and developed his own hard-bop and post-bop style. In following decades, he switched to funk fusion and back to bop and recorded more than 60 albums as a leader. In the mid-’60s and ’70s he worked with Abbey Lincoln, Art Farmer, Hank Mobley and many more. He also did electric funk fusion with his groups Mobius and Soundscapes. These live recordings capture Cedar and a hand-picked group of colleagues live in concert at the famed San Francisco jazz club, the Keystone Korner.
