Piano, Composer | 1932-1990

Born in Richmond, Virginia on 2 September 1932, Walter Davis Jr. became an exceptional hard bop pianist known for commanding, percussive style and inventive compositions. Raised in East Orange, New Jersey in a musical family, he was a gifted classical pianist before hearing Charlie Parker changed his direction. In 1949, aged 17, he played his first gig with Bird at the Apollo. Mentored by Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, he recorded with Max Roach in 1953 and joined Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1956, touring the Middle East and South America.

His debut Davis Cup was recorded on 2 August 1959 at Van Gelder's newly constructed Englewood Cliffs studio, the first album recorded there, featuring Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Sam Jones, and Art Taylor. That year he joined Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, beginning a long relationship with Blakey who recorded many Davis compositions including "Uranus", "Backgammon", "Jodi", and "Gypsy Folk Tales". In the 1960s Davis worked as a tailor, painter, and designer but returned to music in the late 1960s and 1970s, playing with Sonny Rollins and rejoining the Messengers in 1975. He contributed to the film Bird (1988) and appeared on CBS television's Frank's Place. He died in New York City on 2 June 1990, aged 57.