Myron Walden (born October 18, 1972) is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

flutist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, and

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave ...

ist.Allmusic biography of Myron Walden
/ref>

Biography

Born in Miami, Florida, Walden moved to

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

at the age of 12. His interest in the alto saxophone developed when he witnessed the close attention his uncle paid to the

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

record ''One Night In Washington''. Walden was able to procure an alto sax from his middle school music appreciation teacher, and a saxophone player who lived in his building gave him an instruction book. Walden was self-taught until he enrolled in the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, where he met frequent collaborators Dwayne Burno and Eric McPherson. Walden went on to attend the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

, and in 1993 won first place in a Charlie Parker competition, which earned him a guest spot with

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.Myron Walden: Kind of a Comeback
/ref>Panken, Ted. "Windows Wide Open." ''Downbeat'' 77.2 (2010): 46-49. Print. Walden began his professional career playing with

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

's big band at the Jazz Gallery in 1995, then performed at Smalls with artists such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Henderson,

Kevin Hays Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

, Stephen Scott, Greg Hutchinson and

Eric Harland Eric Harland (born November 8, 1976; in Houston, Texas) is an American jazz drummer. In addition to leading his own group, Harland is a member of Charles Lloyd's Quartet, Dave Holland's Prism, James Farm with Joshua Redman, and Taylor Eigsti' ...

before earning a regular gig on Wednesday nights with his Apex Trio, featuring McPherson (drums) and Burno (bass). Walden primarily played his own original compositions with the Apex Trio, and recorded four solo albums between 1996 and 2005. During this period, he became a member of Brian Blade's Fellowship Band and The New Jazz Composers Octet, which made three recordings as a unit and two with

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives f ...

(with whom they performed several times at the

Iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of ...

). Walden took a nearly five-year break from recording as a leader in order to develop his skills on the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

and soprano saxophones while composing specifically for those instruments. In 2009, he hired

Shore Fire Media Shore Fire Media is a public relations firm based in Brooklyn, New York that specializes in entertainment and popular culture. According to '' Variety,'' at 21 nominations, Shore Fire Media had the largest number of Grammy Award nods of any publ ...

to promote his new projects, playing five Wednesday nights with five different bands in September at the Jazz Gallery (with all proceeds going to the non-profit venue), and releasing seven albums on his new record label, Demi Sound, over the course of 2009 and 2010.

Playing style and critical reception

According to ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of grow ...

'', Walden "plays with a Phoenix-like virtuosity and an attention to rhythmic detail rarely heard among saxophone players". ''All About Jazz'' cites him as "one of the true bright stars of his generation" who "has a very distinctive sharp tone with a rounded nasaly-inflection" and "has shown the ability to develop solos with both an incisive logic and an organic level of invention.""Myron Walden: Higher Ground (2002)"
''All About Jazz'', September 18, 2002. Accessed January 18, 2014. Describing his performance on tenor sax, writer John Kelman said that Walden was "as thoughtful yet fiery a player on the bigger horn as he is on alto" and called his 2009 release ''Momentum'' "a document of one of the modern mainstream's most provocative saxophonists, composers, and bandleaders," favorably comparing Walden's composition "Like a Flower Seeking the Sun" to

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

's title track from

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

's album ''

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in whic ...

''.Kelman, John
"Myron Walden: Momentum (2009)"
''All About Jazz'', November 23, 2009. Accessed January 18, 2014. Writing in ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...

'' magazine, Ted Panken describes Walden as "a widely respected musician's musician with a keening, instantly recognizable voice." Walden frequently plays in a pianoless trio or quartet format, though his 2010 album ''Countyfied'' featured an organ trio, the sound of which Walden described as "Southern-fried soul meets a little blues and rock 'n' roll," and his dual ''In This World'' releases took a "harmonically fortified quiet storm" approach (according to Panken) with a quintet featuring guitarist Mike Moreno and keyboardist

Jon Cowherd Jon Cowherd is an American pianist, composer, arranger, and record producer born to a trombone player (father) and classically trained violinist (mother), both of whom were also educators. Jon began piano lessons at the age of five and trumpet an ...

, among others.

Discography

As leader

*''Hypnosis'' (NYC Music, 1996) *''Like a Flower Seeking the Sun'' (NYC Music, 1999) *''Apex Live: Volume One'' (Demi Sound, 1999) *''Apex Live: Volume Two'' (Demi Sound, 1999) *''Higher Ground'' (

Fresh Sound New Talent Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a jazz record label established in Barcelona, Spain, by Jordi Pujol. The label was initially founded as a reissue label. The catalog includes work by musicians both major and minor that was recorded be ...

, 2002) *''This Way'' (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2005) *''Momentum'' (Demi Sound, 2009) *''Momentum Live'' (Demi Sound, 2009) *''In This World: What We Share'' (Demi Sound, 2010) *''In This World: To Feel'' (Demi Sound, 2010) *''Countryfied'' (Demi Sound, 2010) *''Momentum Live; Our Sound'' (Demi Sound, 2014)

As sideman

*''Spirits in the Night'' - Dan Faulk (Fresh Sound New Talent, 1997) *'' Brian Blade Fellowship'' - Brian Blade (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

, 1998) *''First Steps into Reality'' - The New Jazz Composers Octet (Fresh Sound New Talent, 1999) *''Premonition'' - Jason Lindner (

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

, 2000) *''

Perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, ...

'' - Brian Blade (Blue Note, 2000) *'' New Colors'' -

(Hip Bop Essence, 2001) *''Wise Children'' - Tom Harrell (

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

, 2003) *''Walkin' the Line'' - The New Jazz Composers Octet (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2003) *''Treats for the Nightwalker'' - Josh Roseman (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and ...

, 2003) *''

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

'' - Lizz Wright ( Verve, 2003) *''Insight'' - Jeremy Pelt (

Criss Cross Jazz Criss Cross Jazz is a Dutch record company and label specializing in jazz. Criss Cross was established in 1980 by Gerry Teekens, a drummer and German professor.

, 2003) *''Mirror'' - David Weiss (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2004) *''Attack of Wren: Wrenaissance Volume One'' -

Darren Barrett Darren BarrettDarren Barrett at All About Jazz
Accessed October 4, 2010. ...

(Nagel Heyer, 2004) *''Time Was - Time Is'' -

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

(O+ Music, 2005) *''Late August'' - Gregg August (Iacuessa, 2005) *''Identity'' - Jeremy Pelt ( MAXJAZZ, 2005) *''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the maga ...

'' - Kendrick Scott Oracle (World Culture, 2007) *''Metalix'' - Matthias Lupri (

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

, 2006) *''Interwords'' - Dan McCarthy (2006) *''Asking No Permission'' - Omer Avital ( Smalls, 2006) *''Room to Grow'' - Omer Avital (Smalls, 2007) *''One Peace'' - Gregg August (Iacuessa, 2007) *''The Turning Gate'' - The New Jazz Composers Octet ( Motéma, 2008) *''

Season of Changes ''Season of Changes'' is a studio album by Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band. Reception Writing for ''All About Jazz'', John Kelman said: The twin-horn frontline of Myron Walden (alto saxophone, bass clarinet) and Melvin Butler (tenor saxophone ...

'' - Brian Blade (Verve, 2008) *'' On the Real Side'' - Freddie Hubbard (Times Square, 2008) *''After Hours (Moonlamps & Other Ballads)'' - Matthias Lupri (Summit, 2010) *''Landmarks'' - Brian Blade (Blue Note, 2014) *''When Words Fail'' - David Weiss (Motéma, 2014) *''Live and Direct'' -

Darren Barrett Darren BarrettDarren Barrett at All About Jazz
Accessed October 4, 2010. ...

dB Quintet (DB Studios, 2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, Myon 1972 births Living people American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz clarinetists Musicians from Miami Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Manhattan School of Music alumni Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The New Jazz Composers Octet members