Biography
Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990) was an American bebop and hard bop pianist. Davis once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a body of work while never becoming a high-profile name even within the jazz community. Davis played with Babs Gonzales' Three Bips & a Bop as a teen, then moved from Richmond to New York in the early 1950s. He played with Max Roach and Charlie Parker, recording with Roach in 1953. He joined Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1956, and toured the Middle East and South America. He also played in Paris with Donald Byrd in 1958 and with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers in 1959. After retiring from music for a while to run his tailor shop, Davis returned in the 1960s, producing records and writing arrangements for a local New Jersey group. He studied music in India in 1979, and played with Sonny Rollins in the early 1970s.
Bio from Wikipedia
Discography
Records they worked on — most-collected first.
Roots & Herbs
1970
Attica Blues
1972
The Rajah
1984
Byrd In Paris
1958
New Soil
1959
The Sun, Moon & Herbs
1971
Davis Cup
1959
Byrd In Hand
1959
Let Freedom Ring
1963
Parisian Thoroughfare
1958
Munich '59
2012
Blue 'N' Groovy Vol. 2 Mostly Modal
1997
Bird (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
1988
Live At Kimball's
1986
John Hicks
1984
Master Of The Art
1982
History Of Jazz
1978
There's A Trumpet In My Soul
1975
Horn Culture
1973
Royal Flush
1961
Dizzy In Greece
1957
Jazz In Camera
2012
Credited work
1,002 releases · 149 albums · active 1953–2026
- Performance · 1,486
- Other credits · 23
Studios: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey · L'Olympia · Théâtre des Champs-Élysées