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Cy Walter

A Life In Music, and the Music of a Life

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Posted on July 26, 2015 by Mark Walter

CyAndStan

This entry was posted in Portraits and tagged Stan Freeman by Mark Walter. Bookmark the permalink.

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Welcome to the official Cy Walter Web Site.

This is the only web site created and maintained by Cy’s family. We hope that you find this site to be a treasure trove of images, memories, and most importantly, music pertaining to this very special and unique musician.

You can start your journey with Cy’s Biography or if you prefer, you may immediately listen to Cy’s Music.

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Donate to the Cy Walter Foundation

More information on the Cy Walter Foundation can be found here

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Cy Walter (1915-1968)

Cy Walter

"[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.

WWFM Interview

On two dates that included the actual centenary of Cy's birth (what would be his 100th birthday, or 16 February 2015), pianist and radio show host Jed Distler aired a program on Cy during which he included performances of Cy's music and portions of an interview with Mark Walter. This terrific show can be heard as an archived webcast by going to The Classical Network website, WWFM.Org, as the 15 September 2015 link, click here.

RODGERS REVISITED

Cy Walter's Rodgers Revisited album has been released on CD by the Collectable label. Originally issued by Atlantic Records in 1956, this album is considered by many to be one of Cy's finest, and showcases Cy's love for Rodgers' music and the two musicians' life-long collaborations.

For more information :

www.footlight.com
www.cduniverse.com
www.oldies.com

THE PARK AVENUE TATUM

Due to the concerted efforts of Alex Hassan and others, a terrific disc entitled The Park Avenue Tatum: Cy Walter Piano Solos+ was produced by the British label, Shellwood. As this company has now ceased operations, the disc is, unfortunately, no longer being sold and so is now a collectors' item.

Read The Downbeat Magazine Review of The Park Avenue Tatum from their February 2007 issue.

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.

Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired

Mark Walter, son of Cy Walter, was interviewed on Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired radio show in February, 2007. Listen to the excellent archived show and hear Mark talk about his father, the web site, the music and more.

Visit Jazz Inspired

Terry Teachout

Click here to read Terry Teachout's very insightful Blog entries about Cy Walter "Lost Artist" "Rodgers Revisted"

Michael Kanan

PUBLICATION: Michael Kanan has published an article about Cy Walter in Jazz Buttletti, a Catalan-language, Barcelona, Spain magazine. You can read the original in PDF format or you can read the translation here

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.
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