The Bobby Hutcherson & Cedar Walton Quartet

(US)
modern jazz, hard-bop, soul jazz

Two old school masters pooled their resources that even separately are rather vast. They bring to Pori a new quartet, which reminds us why the 60’s/70’s jazz still bites so hard. Whether it’s hard bop, the funkier soul jazz or the more experimental stuff, these gentlemen can cut it. The bonus is that on the way they have accumulated some charisma, too.

Born in Los Angeles in 1941, Bobby Hutcherson is a vibist/marimba player extraordinaire. He has inspired so many younger vibists, just like Milt Jackson inspired him. The prolific man has made a stunning amount of excellent albums, especially for Blue Note, both as a leader and as a sideman with top musicians, like Jackie McLean, Eric Dolphy, Grant Green, Archie Shepp and McCoy Tyner.

Born in Dallas in 1934, Cedar Walton took to piano early on. Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz icons sat in with Walton’s band every time they were in town. Locating to New York, Walton played with Lou Donaldson and Sonny Rollins before ending up in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. That’s where his compositional abilities really started to bloom. Since then countless jazz musicians have recorded his compositions, like Bolivia, Clockwise, Firm Roots and others. In the 60’s he belonged to the house rhythm section at Prestige and has stayed active to this day. His warmly received album Seasoned Wood came out in 2008.