Cam Walter LaGennusa (1932-2010)

After a long battle with lung cancer, Cam Walter LaGennusa, Cy’s widow, passed away at age 78 on 20 October 2010. Cam was the most wonderful mother for which a son could hope, and was, as more fully explained in the “About This Site” page, the ultimate savior, protector, and progenitor of the materials shared here. Before her marriage to Cy and her subsequent homemaker and parenting roles, Cam was a professional model in New York City. Cam was also a true cabaret professional, a discerning connoisseur of the wonderful music, people, and places that this unique art form engenders. In this context, she was familiar with almost all of the luminaries of the New York City Café Society world, counting as her close friends artists such as Mabel Mercer, Alec Wilder, Bart Howard, George Shearing, Bobby Short, along with many others. Cam was truly proud of Cy’s musical genius, and in a crucial sense exhibited her love for him and his artistry by carefully retaining all the amazing materials about Cy’s career and world which the Walter family is now privileged to share on this site.

Cam is survived by her husband of over three decades, Joseph LaGennusa; her daughters, Victoria and Daphne; her son, Mark; and her grandson, Christian. Cam’s family and friends deeply mourn her passing. Should anyone have any memories of Cam that they may wish to share with other visitors to this site, please send them by e-mail to me at markwalter@cywalter.com .

The Cam Walter Memorial Celebration was held on 17 October 2011 at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room. Attended by family and friends, the event was a musical zenith in honor of a woman for whom music was essential to life. The stellar performers included Doug Bowles, Joyce Breach, Eric Comstock, Barbara Fasano, Vince Giordano, Alex Hassan, Mark Hummel, Peter Mintun, Steve Ross, Daryl Sherman, KT Sullivan, Marlene VerPlanck, Ronny Whyte, Julie Wilson, and Bill Zeffiro. Unbeknownst then to all, this was the last private event to be held in the Oak Room; an irony in light of Cy Walter’s having opened the room as the Supper Club on 29 November 1939 with Greta Keller. Nonetheless, that magical event did justice both to Cam Walter’s love for excellent music, and to the room’s existential and historical significance in hosting so much of it.

Mark Walter
September, 2015

Cy Walter (1915-1968)

"[Cy Walter] played primarily in hotels and nightclubs, but he was no less talented than Tatum or Horowitz. So as far as I'm concerned, he ranks among the very best of any pianist of any order".

Michael Feinstein, American Popular Songbook preservationist, pianist, cabaret performer, and Cy Walter fan

"One night Noël Coward and I went to hear your father play. Noël's reaction to Cy's artistry was conveyed in his awed comment to me, "What a masterful command of his instrument he has!!!'"

As related to Mark Walter, Cy's son, by actress Marian Seldes, during a 2010 Mabel Mercer Foundation/Noël Coward Foundation Award Competition event held at the New York City National Arts Club.

Tony Caramia Concert

The Eastman School of Music Presents

Tony Caramia, piano
Tom Paul, vocal
Sunday, October 11, 2015, 3:00 P.M.
Celebrating the Life and Artistry of Cy Walter (1915-1968)

HATCH RECITAL HALL

This multi-media concert will pay tribute to the marvelous pianist, Cy Walter, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. He had many titles: Park Avenue Art Tatum, the Michelangelo of Music, and the Grand Master of Harmony.

Featured will be his incomparable arrangements of popular songs like Embraceable You, Isn’t it Romantic, Heart and Soul, and Begin the Beguine.

CY WALTER, PIANIST; CY WALTER, COMPOSER: SUBLIMITIES

A two-volume CD set being released by Harbinger Records on 27 September 2015, consisting of pre-LP era utter rarities:

Volume 1: Cy as solo pianist, on commercial 78 rpm records and unique discs; and as recorded from radio show appearances (including on Cy's own The Cy Walter Show; the House of Squibb Broadcast; the Sunday Evening Party with Hires; The Songs by Sinatra Show; The Jack Smith Show; Keynotes by Carmichael; and ABC's Piano Playhouse program). Volume 2: Cy as multiple piano keyboard artist, performing on ABC's Piano Playhouse program with pianists Inez Carillo, Bill Clifton, Stan Freeman, Walter Gross, Liberace, Forrest Perrin, Margaret Perrin, Art Tatum, Earl Wild, and Teddy Wilson, and with the ABC Symphony Orchestra; Cy as accompanist, on rare or unique records and radio shows, partnered with vocal artists Fred Astaire (with the Benny Goodman Orchestra), Helen Carroll and The Carolers, Hoagy Carmichael, Audrey Christie, Marlene Dietrich, Eileen Farrell, Bob Haymes, Mabel Mercer, Wynn Murray, Frank Sinatra, and June Valli; and Cy as song composer, with recordings of his either performing his own original song compositions or as performed by artists Buddy Barnes, Doug Bowles, Alex Hassan, and Steve Ross.

To read an excellent 23 December 2015 review of these Sublimities CDs by author Frank Behrens which appeared in the Brattleboro, VT Reformer newspaper, go to here.

Produced by Mark Walter, Ken Bloom, and Bill Rudman, this set is available for purchase through www.harbingerrecords.com.

TWO GRANDS, FOUR HANDS

Spectacular and Rare Novelty Piano Duos of the 1920s and 1930s

Rivermont BSW-1152

The piano duo of Cy Walter and Gil Bowers are included on this new CD compilation of Novetly Piano Duos of the 1920s and 1930s by Rivermont. The selections were compiled and annotated by Alex Hassan, a Falls Church, Virginia-based pianist who is perhaps the world's foremost expert on the Novelty Piano era of the early Twentieth Century, and include two Walter/Bowers medleys. Check out the Rivermont website and our CD section for more information.
Buy Two Grands, Four Hands

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC?

Lars Boye Jensen, a talented pianist from Denmark, has released the first-ever CD consisting entirely of Cy Walter's arrangements as played by another performer.

Containing Cy's arrangements of composers such as Arlen, Rodgers, Porter, and Gershwin, to name a few, Lars' beautiful performances of these unique Cy Walter transcriptions are sure to delight! The CD is available on Lars' website (click here),

Read the Liner Notes for Isn't It Romantic?, written by Mark Walter.

Tony Caramia and Bill Dobbins

On February 13, 2007, an Alec Wilder Centennial event was held at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Pianists Tony Caramia and Bill Dobbins, among other musicians, peformed; as did Soprano Karen Holvik. The first of these MP3s has Tony Caramia and Karen Holvik performing Cy Walter's "Time and Tide"; the second has Tony Caramia performing Cy's 1965 arrangement of Alec Wilder's "While We're Young" as well as Bill Dobbins' 2004 arrangement of the same song (also performed by Tony Caramia). Listen to the performances here.