Cy Walter, the Rachmaninoff of the lounge pianists by Paul James Lewis

I’ve just put up a new file of my playing an arrangement by Cy Walter of a Richard Rodgers song, “Isn’t It Romantic?”. Cy Walter was an amazing piano stylist of the 40’s and 50’s and played the best lounge rooms in the New York hotels. His technique was astonishing, yet never let the melody be washed away by improvisation or over-embellishment. I sometimes think of him as the Rachmaninoff of the cocktail pianists. Enjoy!

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.