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The Daily Star
Ramsay Short-Staff writer
Beirut, Lebanon
June 2003
JD Walter takes singing to a different place at Blue Note
Rumor has it that Louis Armstrong invented scat singing when he dropped
the lyric sheet while singing on his recording of Heebie Jeebies in 1925.
Armstrong himself never made such a claim, and it is generally accepted
that jazz musicians such as Don Redman and Red Nichols both recorded
examples of scat before him.
He was, however, an experimental and innovative singer who fooled around
with all sorts of sounds, and improvised with his voice as he did on his
instrument.
JD Walter, at the Blue Note Cafe in Hamra until June 14, has a voice
nothing like Armstrong’s, but akin to the great man he is an innovative
singer for the modern age fooling around with his voice in ways Armstrong
never could - primarily with the help of a digital effects machine.
The American singer, hailing from, Pennsylvania, - head shaved with
earrings dangling, is a versatile and watchable musician in part because
his philosophy runs simply that "I am more interested in where jazz
is
going, not where it’s been."
That said, the band managed, loose-limbed though they were, and Walter’s
many strengths - his dynamism, rousing scatting capability, pitch control
and metrical journeying - came through and are certainly worth stopping
by to hear.
Scatting is a vocal technique where the singer invents a melody on the
spot using syllables and phrases instead of words, while following the
chord changes.
His jazz phrasing and scatting takes much from the early African-American
musicians who first applied scatting to jazz but as is his stated aim,
Walter succeeds in pushing things forward creating a post-bop almost
electro-vocal of his own making.
Picking up where the language leaves off, Walter communicates feelings
and nuances through his voice that words alone cannot express. His
phonemic awareness is staggering and his improvisation, demonstrated in
his ability to come up with the nonsense (and sense) words of scat,
fascinating.
Opening with the standard, Polka Dots and Moonbeams, Walter first
demonstrated his ability to use his voice as an instrument, at points
mimicking the bass to perfection. His smooth Nat Cole-like interpretation
of the lyrics caressed the ears almost as smoothly as the creamy-voiced
master.
Beautiful Love began his lesson in scat, as well as demonstrating the
soul music in the man. His technique illustrates an obviously deep
instrumental knowledge.
Walter, now in his 30s, began singing with his family church choir,
before being accepted to sing with the American Boy Choir at Princeton.
Later he went to the University of North Texas on a vocal jazz
scholarship, becoming a featured soloist on university recordings. Later
he went to Amsterdam, in Holland, where he studied with recording artist
Deborah Brown. He has released two albums, Sirens in The C-House and
Clear Day, a collaboration with Brooklyn master saxophonist and musician
Dave Liebman.
It is perhaps, however, his training with Brown and his own personal
obsession with that great chanteuse Betty Carter, that makes what he does
with his voice unusual for a male singer, and why he has been continually
compared to Carter, Nina Simone and others.
On his own composition, entitled It Never Entered My Mind, he uses the
voice mixer to demonstrate a vast vocal range, and the influence of
Carter instantly appears.
"She is a hero of mine. I had an infatuation with her as much for
her
music as for the stories about her. I spent years playing with as many
musicians as I could find who played with her, over 20 at least, so I
could find out everything," Walter says.
"In many ways I already knew the answers," he adds.
Autumn Leaves, at the end of the first set, allowed Walter to really go
off in an experimental instrumental all his own. Using the digital
effects machine via three or four pedals, he stops the band, and sings a
bassline, sampling it with a reverb effect.
Then while that bassline continues to play, he sings the melody, again
sampling it with echo and adding it in time to the bass. With those two
playing over and over he begins his scat, and carries the whole
composition for some minutes before Basulto re-engages on keys.
It is a highly personal, creative and unpredictable sound, seamlessly
coalescing lyrics, wordless chanting and reshaped melodies into an
instrumental resonance.
"I’m not a jazz purist. I am never content with who I am. I used to
be a
drummer, now I’m a singer," Walter says.
Though the effects machine could be considered gimmicky, to Walter it is
just an example of continuing innovation, and it requires a hell of a lot
of discipline and time-control, skills that Walter possesses aplenty.
"I must have toys. I want more," he says of the mixer, sampler
and
effects boxes.
Joined during the second set by the National Conservatoire of Music’s sax
instructor Tom Hornig on tenor sax for the classic Miles Davis tune All
Blues, and that other regular standard Stella By Starlight, Walter
clearly feels more free to let go using his voice as a purely musical
instrument achieving a wonderful harmonic amalgamation with Hornig’s rich
sax sound.
JD Walter is a man full of swing, capable of mixing measured tones with
soft, melding words, sliding between meters as the feel of the songs
fluctuates. Vocalists such as he don’t make the trip to Beirut often. His
two-week stint at the Blue Note deserves a visit.
Moscow Lifestyle
The Russian Journal
Valeria Paykova
artist preview
July 2003
American Jazz artist to stop by CoolTrain
To vocalist J.D. Walter, jazz is the Milky Way. He seeks the brightest
spiritual center of music, using his pure voice as a tool for emphasizing
innovative sounds and creative ideas.
He has a natural talent for transforming well-known songs into unique
provocative tunes: His voice ranges from a low, almost whistling level to
high-pitched tones. Walter is one if those rare professionals who is
looking into the future of jazz, with a view to reexamine all the
traditional aspects of jazz and give them a new twist. According to the
talented improviser Walter, although all music nowadays is considered
merely part of the entertainment industry, one of the most serious kinds
of music, jazz, is going to remain the music of the 21st century.Walter
will give a play at the Cool Train club, on August 9 at 9 p.m.
Poinyl Jazz
Report, Nizhniy Novogorod, Russia
Maria Panteleyeva
Translation by Sergey M. Shumilin
December-2003
JD Walter in Russia – The Voice Plus…
On December,6 at the Nizhniy Novgorod Drama Theatre, a concert has taken
place that obviously was the last and such a beautiful event in the jazz
life of the city for the year 2003 . This time the following artists were
on stage: a vocalist Yana Tjulkova well familiar to the townspeople, a
saxophonist Oleg Kireev with his quartet, who introduced a pianist from
Kazan, Valery Korotkov, a newcomer to his band who has shown great taste
and deep understanding. Also, there was a beginner female jazz pianist
from Dzerzhinsk and a jazz vocalist from New York, JD Walter, who has
been yet unfamiliar to our jazz public. JD Walter turned out to be a true
discovery. However, before, a whole number of Russian cities have had the
pleasure to see JD Walter within a large scale jazz festival, «The Jazz
Province». And well, we have to admit that JD's concerts have
consistently been followed with a loop of enthusiastic reviews...
Not knowing how to properly rank the creativity of the American singer in
terms of style and direction, some critics prefer to just swear, being
"purists" themselves and saying in jazz you can’t do such
tricks, while the other ones go really far in compliments to his vocal
talent. In general it is absolutely unimportant how to characterise what
JD Walter is doing. Neither should we think of how close JD’s singing
stands to jazz in its conventional understanding. Among similar
phenomena, Bobby McFerrin can be mentioned, but JD’s style and manner
generally lay in mainstream and fusion (which is no wonder as in fact JD
started singing at the American Boychoir).
But the above mentioned facts aren’t essential. The really important
thing is that starting from the first sound, JD captures the listeners’
attention and now they completely belong to him. The initial material for
JD Walter’s art is his soft, excellently "melodious" timbre
that is more often met with the soul artists, and a very wide range of
voice. Using these, he was making the unusual things that left the press
in confusion, and the audience in delight.
Using a sampler JD was in real time recording six or seven polyphonic
voices, laying one over the other. The result resembled a madrigal in
which were combined in its strict-style polyphony, the baroque cadences
and the turnovers typical for gospel music. The effect upon the public
was stunning.
Summing up, I would say that the concert of JD Walter was one the most
vivid events in the music life of the city. And not only have we seen at
Nizhniy Novgorod Drama Theatre the most unusual rendering of a music that
is conventional in itself but probably we’ve chanced to witnesses how a
whole new musical trend is emerging.
JD Walter in St. Petersburg
JAZZ.RU
Yelena Nasonova
Translation- Sergey M. Shumilin
December-2003
JD Walter in St. Petersburg
On December, 12 and 13 a New York vocalist JD Walter was guest to the St.
Petersburg jazz stage. The name of this musician is familiar to
muscovites and it is also known in some cities which "The Jazz
province" festival has been visiting. We in Saint Petersburg have
also chanced to see JD – once there has been a concert at the Jazz
Philarmonic Hall. JD has got a magnificent background: The American
Boychoir, then the University of Northern Texas on the class of jazzvoice,
he as well took lessons from Deborah Brown. As a result we can see his
distinctive feature.He is a vocalist who feels the band as the uniform
organism, and becomes himself a part of the whole thing.
Here the St. Petersburg performances also became an example of such
interaction. There were two such examples. Also, there was a contrast
between them.
The debut has taken place on December, 12 in the jazz-club " Take
Five ", and you should know the background. The following thing was
happening: during the two hours prior to the beginning of the concert JD
was sitting at the bar drinking cognac and glancing at his watch and
waiting for the musicians to come for the soundcheck. Somehow to calm the
visitor, the art-director of the club was trying to entertain JD telling
him some stories and trying to make JD understand that when president
Putin comes to the city, half of the traffic stops because of the jams..
. and JD reasonably answered, " Well, I have arrived on time?!
".
Ten minutes before the concert, the musicians finally appeared, while
their leader appeared even later – and there was no soundcheck. So the
repertoir was made up of jazz standards though JD was planning to play
some original music.
However, JD managed to capture the public, therefore the next day many of
these people went to the other club "Che" to listen to the next
gig with the other musicians. These were Andrey Kondakov (keyboard),
Grigory Voskobojnik (counterbass), Grigory Bagdasarjan (drums). With this
set JD had more freedom to do what he wanted.
Initially JDWalter is a tenor-vocalist, with a soft guitar-like
presentation transforming into alto-saxophonic attacks, with the accuracy
and clearness close to a pipe, and the warmth of a human voice. However,
getting to the low register, his voice becomes different, resembling
either string, or keyboard bass.
JD was experimenting with some "spices" in his music kitchen,
the electronic equipment laying several voices one over the other,
sometimes imitating music instruments, getting a beautiful stream of
sound. He also surprised the listeners with multiple improvisations often
fresh and unexpected. The musicians have also shown themselves as mature
masters able to communicate on stage.
What we have seen, and heard was really good music which unfortunately
you can’t hear often. The club was full, and the concert was a lot of
pleasure to the listeners.
Jazzreview.com
Featured Artist: J. D. Walter
CD Title: Clear Day
Record Label: Double-Time Records 2001
Musicians: J.D. Walter, vocals; Dave Liebman, saxophones, flute; Jim
Ridl, piano; Steve Varner, bass; Ari Hoenig, drums
Reviewed by: Don Williamson
I've said it before and I'll say it again: "J.D. Walter is a
one-of-a-kind jazz vocalist awaiting discovery by a wider public."
It seems that the inner circle of jazz musicians, as always, recognizes
outstanding talent and originality long before the jazz press and the
record-buying listeners do. Take Dave Liebman, for instance. When Walter
called him for advice, it turned out that Liebman was already familiar
with Walter's work and owned his Dreambox Media CD, Sirens In The
C-House. One thing led to another, including a joint gig at the renowned
Deer Head Inn, and the next thing you know, they were recording an album
on Double-Time Records--the label's first that features a singer leading
a group.
Walter's strengths remain intact: right-on pitch, thrilling dynamics,
distinctive scatting ability, daredevil metrical escapades, wordless
chanting, unpredictable seemingly out-of-nowhere musical ideas, the
seamless coalescence of lyric and reshaped melody and instrumental-like
twists and turns as if channeling his voice through brass valves or
woodwind keys. Indeed, not only do the musical complexities that Walter
makes simple establish him as a jazzman to the soul, but also they make
one
wonder at the extent of his instrumental experience. Surely, he must have
gained such theoretical insight, technical understanding and irresistible
feel from at least some keyboard experience, if not that of horns.
However, Walter's first interest is in the limitless possibilities of the
human voice, and he doesn't sit down at the piano--like, say, Freddie
Cole--or switch to a saxophone--like Curtis Stigers--to display a broader
range of talent than that of the voice. Indeed, Walter revels in the joys
of singing, making one believe that Clear Day represents a sampling of a
longer session cut off by the customary limitations of CD length…and that
the musical explorations continued for quite some time before and after
the tracks we get to hear.
J.D. Walter, being attuned to musical circumstances, responds to the
situations set up on Clear Day, which employs a new group of musicians
from those used on his last album. The resulting atmosphere is more
impressionistic, the clarity of purpose assured, and the artistic
achievement luminously translucent. For one thing, Sirens in the C-House
consisted, with one exception, of tracks written by widely recognized
composers/songwriters, such as Rodgers & Hart's "It Never Entered
My Mind" or Bill Evans' s "Turn Out The Stars," while
Clear Day, on the other hand, features for the most part Walter's and
Liebman's original compositions. So, while we got to marvel on his
Dreambox Media CD at Walter's powers of invention as he transformed well-known
songs into scatting adventures, Clear Day provides a more personalized
session through which Walters's and Liebman's attitudes toward life
experiences escape through music.
On "Mommie Eyes," written for Liebman's wife on the occasion of
their daughter's birth, Walter abandons words altogether, making his
voice a purely musical
instrument that achieves a harmonic synthesis with Liebman's work on
tenor sax. Shrewdly, Walter, inadvertently or not, crafts his swelling,
unhurried tones with vowels and soft consonants, rather than
note-clipping hard sounds--a sheen of "oh oh oh ah ah ah ee nn day
ay oh" reminiscent of what Milton Nascimento does so well:
outpourings of instantly felt emotion of a depth that renders words
useless. Interestingly and appropriately, some of the song titles allude
to pleasures of the visible universe, Walter's group painting rather than
asserting.
Walter's two compositions are gleaming examples of his implicit swing,
not to mention his effortless sliding between meters as the moods of the
pieces change. "Kieshas Coy," an unpretentious minor blues,
moves from a repeated head, Ridl's dense chords and minimalist approach
signaling the changes gracefully, to Walter's scatted improvisation, much
in the same way that "Golden Lady" introduced Sirens In The
C-House. In the liner notes, Walter expresses his satisfaction with the
lyrics he wrote for "Here I Am There I Go." But the real
enjoyment of that tune is its combination of unexpected lurch to conform
to apparently-but-not-really-added-at-the-last-minute words, a
comfortable ease and a metrical slipperiness. Walter's give-and-take with
Liebman reveals his fascination, not just with music, but with the
essence of sonic beauty.
On Clear Day, Walter is accompanied by his "other trio" consisting
of Ridl on piano, Steve Varner on bass and Ari Hoenig on drums. The
contrast with his Jean-Michel Pilc/Steve Varner/Gregory Hutchinson group
of Sirens In The C-House is illuminating. While Pilc remained
irrepressible and challenging, always champing at the bit before
embarking on some wild pianistic adventure, Ridl subsumes his
considerable offshooting skills--like a Kenny Barron's or a Brad
Mehldau's in his
ability to make keys and strings convey complex thought and profound
feeling--to advance the cohesive sound of the group. The fact that Walter
is inspired by two different approaches proves not only his versatility,
but also his fearlessness and curiosity.
Once again, J.D. Walter follows his own muse, not really walking in
anyone else's shoes. And once again, he creates that hallmark of an
outstanding jazz release: an album that offers new delights every time
you listen to it--no matter how many times you listen to it.
Tracks : Kieshas Coy, On A Clear Day, Here I Am There I Go, Beyond The
Line, Mommie Eyes, If I Should Lose You, Translucence, Grac
Cadence Jazz
Magazine-November 2000
"Although the voice of Walter has a pureness to it, he also uses it
as an instrument on 'Sirens In the C-House.' He becomes an integral
member of the band as he scats, does vocalese, and sings his way through
nine kicking tunes. The stunning piano trio led by Pilc is his strong
supporter, while trumpeter Swana joins them on several cuts. Walter has a
tinge of soul in his sound, but his most dramatic quality is his ability
to fly as an equal member of the instrumental group. His voice ranges
from the low, near-mumbling level where he projects in the moody style of
Nina Simone, to the high-pitched squeals that typify his scatting. Speed
is another quality that personifies his singing. He keeps up with the
super-fast riffs of Swana or prances around the dazzling keyboard runs of
Pilc, effortlessly matching his tone to theirs. Walter is a true
improviser as a vocalist who alters the melody line at will. He does to a
song what Betty Carter did, making it uniquely his own. 'Turn Out the
Stars' will convince you. Walter is a natural who has 'can't miss'
written all over him." - Frank Rubolino, Cadence Magazine
Marge Hofacre’s
JAZZ NEWS Fall 2000
In a round about fashion--- from south central Pennsylvania, through
Texas, to Holland, to New York, and returning to Pennsylvania, this time
to the Philadelphia area---J.D. Walter has picked up a few things along
the way.
Things like the ability to scat like nobody’s business. I mean, he scats
like nobody else. Comparisons fail me. He plays with long tones like
Betty Carter, takes risks like Kurt Elling, possesses a velvety
smoothness like Mel Torme, investigates wordless ululations like Milton
Nascimento, croons with the confident serenity of a Nat Cole.
But J.D. Walter is his own man, as Bob Dorough notes in his round about
and quirky fashion in the liner notes. And J.D. Walter has assembled a
cracker-jack rhythm section that really could be recording as a piano
trio and killing audiences with its attack and virtuosity.
I don’t know if Sirens In The C-House is a debut album for MR.Walter, but
it sure is an attention-getter. Let’s hope that a wide, wide listening
audience sits up and takes notice.
With authority and astounding pitch and quickness of thought, Walter
really does make each song his own, in spite of the fame of some of the
composers like Bill Evans, Stevie Wonder or Rodgers and Hart.
How? Well he does almost exactly the opposite of what the listener
expects, creating surprise and delight with every song. On say, Almost
Like Being In Love, Walter actually uses the song as a point of harmonic
departure as he and Pilc build intensity and wit with each chorus and
with each dramatic phrase. Walter obviously enjoys scat singing and he
eventually may be recognized as one of its contemporary masters. Thus,
each song’s stealthy introduction and exposition inevitably lead to
scatting flights of fancy that challenge the listener with their daring,
seeming to push to the end of a cliff only to be rescued with a logical,
but until-then unanticipated, resolution.
As much as I would like to pick one tune and give it as an example of the
best of the CD, that’s impossible because each track is of the same high
level of technical mastery and artfulness.
Sirens In The C-House, limited in its promotion and distribution without
the powerhouse budgets of an entertainment conglomerate, really is a CD
that should be sought out and savored. Once those conglomerates discover
J.D. Walter, I doubt if he’ll remain an unknown beyond the
Philadelphia-New York corridor much longer. And thus Sirens In The
C-House, will be collected with the same curiosity and enthusiasm that,
for example, Diana Krall’s early Justin-Time CDs are sought now. Mark my
word. -Bill Donaldson-
Sirens In The
C-House
J.D. Walter (Encounter)
All About Jazz.com
By Don Williamson -
Five stars! Five stars, I tell you! "Sirens In The C-House" is,
without a doubt, a five-star CD! J.D. Walter is a five-star singer! Nay,
ten stars! A hundred stars! Turn out the stars! Yowza! "Sirens In
The C-House" reveals the folly of trying to rate music, making it a
kind of competition and blessing a reviewer's favorites with the
"ultimate" rating, whatever that may be. "Sirens In The
C-House" is absolutely, from track one to track nine, a stunner. I
know. I know. It's not cool for reviewers to fall all over themselves in
praise of a CD. But if a reviewer can't get excited about the music, what
good is a reviewer? Answer me that. And while you're at it, answer me if
you've ever heard of J.D. Walter. A show of hands. Just as I thought.
Almost without exception, brilliant regional jazz talent falls beneath
the radar screen of the national and international audiences. I cringe when
I read, as I did once again last week in a national jazz publication,
that a musician helpfully advised another to "move to New York if
you want to be successful." Why is that so? Why can't regional
talent thrive financially and critically, just as it can artistically? I
mean, Kurt Elling was a Chicago phenomenon until Bruce Lundvall of Blue
Note read a Chicago Tribute article about him, and then, voila! The world
knows about Kurt Elling. Well, J.D. Walter inevitably will be compared to
Kurt Elling. But in spite of the fact that they lead killer rhythm
sections, Pilc/Varner/Hutchinson head to head with
Hobgood/Amster/Wertico, and the fact that they're white male scat
singers, their styles are considerably different. Walter doesn't indulge
in the poetry or beat generation sensibilities, but rather uses his voice
as just another instrument in the ensemble, much as Betty Carter or Anita
O'Day did. With his smoky sound, Walter wavers tones ever so slightly,
comes in when he damned well feels like it to stretch the confines of a
song, growls, moans, exclaims and jabs with uncanny pitch and right-on
articulation. You don't believe me? Just listen to what he does in just
the first chorus of "My Ideal." As Pilc establishes the key
with his lead-in chords, Walter comes in when least expected, after
two-and-a-half beats, as if an afterthought, and then changes the mood to
one of urgency as he poses his question, "Will I ever find…?"
Pause. Billowy cushions around the words "the girl" as he identifies
her as the center of the thought and as he anticipates the beat for
effect. "In my mind" involves Walter's ever-so-slight bending
of the pitch on the word "mind" in a Betty Carter-ish mode as
he smoothes the way to his resolution of conception with the words
"my ideal," faking the listener with an unexpected choice of
note--that note being the same one on "my." And then he asserts
a seeming inspiration with "yeah," as if he had actually just
considered his "ideal" to be a "dream." Since all of
this takes place in sixteen bars, that first chorus sets up a flight of
distinctive scatting. Not like Elling. Not like Hendricks. Not like
Tormé. Not like Salinger. (I'm just checking to see if you're paying
attention.) J.D. Walter didn't pack all of his energy and talent into
only "My Ideal." Every track is like that, including a dramatic
reworking of Stevie Wonder's "Golden Lady" that sounds nothing
at all like Wonder or Walter's spirited charge on "The Song Is
You." How does he sing like that? Breath control? Energy control?
All kinds of control, giving the impression that he has lost control in
his euphoria of song? Perhaps the most reverential of the tunes is Bill
Evans' "Turn Out The Stars," a gem of a performance on which
Walter and Pilc cool down, Pilc going horizontal in his phrasing and
semi-classical in his interpretation of song and Walter realizing in a
wordless vocal way, perhaps as Milton Nascimento does, the potential of
the human voice for gripping the heart. John Swana's melodic quality on
trumpet and flugelhorn becomes an appropriate counterpart to Walter's
voice on several of the tunes. Thanks be to Jim Miller's Encounter
Records for bringing talents like these to the attention of listeners
beyond Walter's eastern-Pennsylvania live performance schedule. In spite
of the typically small marketing budgets that small labels face, let's
hope that the word gets out about J.D. Walter's exceptional CD.
Track Listing: Golden Lady; You Always Hurt The One You Love; The Song Is
You; Beautiful Moons Ago; My Ideal; Sirens In The C-House; Turn Out The
Stars; Almost Like Being In Love; It Never Entered My Mind Personnel:
J.D. Walter, vocals; Jean-Michel Pilc, piano; Steve Varner, bass; Greg
Hutchinson, drums; John Swana, trumpet, flugelhorn
http://www.members.aol.com/dreambox95/
ALL MUSIC
GUIDE-2001
www.getmusic.com
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Still in his thirties here, J. D. Walter is one of the
newer breed of male singers, like Kurt Elling, who look to Bob Dorough
(who provided this album's liner notes), Dave Frishberg, and Mark Murphy
as their models. Like these veterans, Walter brings unique
interpretations to standard and non-standard material alike. As a
representative of the latter group, a Stevie Wonder song is on this play
list. But even more significant is the way Walter addresses, or, more
accurately, attacks the familiar material on this album. Throwing aside
conformity and convention, he uses all sorts of vocal devices to provide
a new perspective to this material. "It Never Entered My Mind"
has Walter moving back and forth between regular and wordless vocalizing,
sometimes in the same sentence. This is a segue into a lengthy and
in-depth examination of the art of scatting. A tune popularly spoofed by
Spike Jones, in the hands of Walter and his cohorts, borders on the
avant-garde, especially in the dynamic pianism of Jean-Michel Pilc
coupled with the probing drums and bass of Greg Hutchinson and Steve
Varner, respectively. Out of the ordinary arrangements are a trademark of
this session as shown on the Nat King Cole/Oscar Moore "Beautiful
Moons Ago" which becomes a discourse between Walter, the flgelhorn
of John Swana, and the Hutchinson snare. But Walter, if nothing else, is
flexible. His rendition of "Turn Out the Stars" approaches a
Gregorian chant with its intensity. This is one of the album's
highlights. Another highlight is a swinging but slightly off-center
"The Song Is You." While possessing a very pleasing to the ear
voice, not everyone will warm to Walter's singing style, especially as it
is applied to those classics which have been recorded by Sinatra, Cole,
Torme, and the like. However, given a couple of hearings, this album will
slowly but surely seduce and will be taken from the shelf often. This
album is adventurous and recommended. - Dave Nathan
THE PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER- Sunday May 28, 2000
Music Report
J.D. Walter
Sirens in the C-House
(Dreambox media * * *)(Out of four stars)
J.D. Walter sings with the pizzazz of a horn player. He’s also a
freewheeling scatman capable of negotiating all the swoops and swirls
required by that discipline.
University of the Arts faculty member, who grew up in the
Lancaster-Lebanon area, has a light tone and an unusual approach to
familiar material, finding new melody lines in tunes from Stevie Wonder’s
"Golden Lady" to Learner and Lowe’s "Almost Like Being in
Love." Walter, 32, sometimes plays it too safe and controlled, as
though his technique is more important to him than the emotion he
projects. Still, he is a very clean singer who gets sympathetic backing
from Jean-Michel Pilc on Piano, Steve Varner on bass, Greg Hutchinson on
drums. Trumpeter John Swana also contributes his svelte playing.
- Karl Starks
Savon Sanomat
newspaper, Kuopio, Finland
Feb 1st 2001
Translation by Dr. Ewen Macdonald
J D Walter stunning in Kuopio and Yllas:
J.D Walter, who stunned the audience in the Kuopio Jazz Club on
Wednesday,
repeated the trick at the opening concert of the Yllas Jazz Festival in
the
Akas Hotel, Pirttukirkko on Thursday. JD's backing band in Kuopio and
Yllas is well known to Savo audiences, the Saarsalo-Hiekkala Quartet.
After
Thursday's concert, bassist Jarmo Hiekkala was stunned in his admiration
of
JD "A really unbelievable voice. You can only try to guess how he
can make
his voice do these things. Through the entire scale, from low to high, it
sounds effortless. I Have never heard anyone sound so natural and so
right"
Hiekkala commented. JD is one of the top American male jazz singers. He
is
heading straight to being one of the world's elite. "You are going
to hear
at lot more of him" predicts Hiekkala. As to future collaborations,
Hiekkala said it's too early to make predictions "Let's see how
these gigs
at Yllas go"
HiFilehti.fi
Helsinki, Finland
By Matti Laipio
Translation by Dr. Ewen Macdonald
JD Walter, who will be appearing at the Yllas Jazz Festival in February
will be a new name to many. J.D. Walter has been performing predominantly
in the Philadelphia area but has also started to become noticed in New
York. JD's style is based on be-bop. His voice is very flexible and his
range is wide, he has the vocal ability to match his creativity. When he
uses his voice as an instrument, when he is scatting, he demonstrates
improvisational talents and soloing creativity. However, he should be
bolder when it comes to taking risks. Perhaps, he should widen his
repertoire from the standards to include more modern music. In his
backing
band, you can find another increasingly popular artist, Jean-Michel Pilz,
you should also check out his records. - Matti Laipio
Philadelphia
Citypaper
May 17–24, 2001
music picks|jazz
J.D. Walter/David Berkman/Pete McCann
Those in the know have already checked out J.D. Walter, the Philly
vocalist with the soaring improvisational style. Last year’s Sirens in
the C-House (Encounter) showcases both his Betty Carter-esque way of
elasticizing a melody and his adept scat singing. The arrangements are
impressive, too; he renders Stevie Wonder’s "Golden Lady" as a
driving samba, with solo commentary from pianist Jean-Michel Pilc (who
appears, along with drummer Ari Hoenig and bassist Steve Varner, on this
gig). This weekend’s Jazz Underground schedule also features pianist
David Berkman and guitarist Pete McCann — impressive 30-somethings on the
Palmetto Records roster whose last Philly appearances were foiled by a
surprise late-March snowstorm.
-Nate Chinen
Flavorpill-preview
JD Walter
Sun 8.19 .01(10pm)
Izzy Bar (166 1st Ave., 212.228.0444)
1998
JD Walter | Izzy Bar | MP3 Download
Once or twice a year New York City is fortunate enough to be graced by
the presence of the truly extraordinary jazz vocalist JD Walter. This is
a rare opportunity to hear a master musician improvising and
"playing" his voice like a virtuoso horn player would his
instrument. JD covers all the bases, from suave seductive ballads to
spellbinding staccato scat lines. Experiencing JD and his grounded
compositional style will open your mind to the vast potential of human
voice and expose you to one of the most important artists of our time. He
will be joined by a group of outstanding musicians, including Pete MCcann
(guitar), Marco Marcinco (drums) and Steve Varner (bass).
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