Cy Walter Biography
 Through
the course of a musical career spanning some four decades (from
1929 through 1968), many sobriquets have been applied to describe
Cy Walter's talent, among them the "Art Tatum of Park
Avenue"; the "darling of New York supper clubs";
the "champion of the genre"; the "poet of the
piano"; the "Michelangelo of music"; the "grand
master of harmony"; and the "Dean of Cocktail Pianists". One
WNEW radio announcer, struggling for an apt yet new accolade,
even likened Cy Walter to Diogenes. Although sometimes
categorized as a "jazz improvisationalist", Cy preferred
to characterize himself as a "stylist of show tunes". The
reality of Cy's piano playing, however, was that his creative
style was unique, largely defied stereotyped definition, and
set its own standard.
From his earliest (and coveted) Liberty
Music Shop 78 rpm records, through his last 33 1/3 rpm Cy
Walter At The Drake LP release in 1966, Cy's solo piano
performances revealed an highly original musician whose
compositions, and variations on well-known standards, had no
parallel. As was stated by Gerry Colson in his liner
notes for the 78 rpm 1948 Apollo release Cy Walter
At The Drake Room Piano,
Cy Walter is the Art Tatum of Cafe Society. He
is the pianist, music experts agree, to whom virtually
every one of today's popular pianists owes a debt of gratitude. His
style is uniquely his own and consistently holds a network
of radio listeners in the four corners of the nation as
readily as it thrills a crowd nightly in New York's smart
Drake Room.
Next |
