WALTER BISHOP, JR. Biography - Musicians

 
 

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WALTER BISHOP, JR.

Name: Walter Bishop, Jr.                                                           
Born: 10 April 1927                                                                 
Died: 24 January 1998                                                               
                                                                                   
Walter Bishop, Jr. (April 10, 1927 - January 24, 1998) was an American bop and     
hard bop jazz pianist.                                                             
                                                                                   
He was the son of composer Walter Bishop, Sr.. In high school his friends           
included Kenny Drew, Sonny Rollins, and Art Taylor. He began his musical career     
after World War II, and played and recorded with Art Blakey, Charlie Parker,       
Oscar Pettiford, Kai Winding, Miles Davis, Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller, Terry     
Gibbs, Clark Terry, Blue Mitchell, and Supersax. In the early 1960s he also led     
his own trio with Jimmy Garrison and G. T. Hogan. He continued performing into     
the 1990s.                                                                         
                                                                                   
After studying at The Juilliard School with Hall Overton in the late 1960s, he     
taught music theory at colleges in Los Angeles in the 1970s. In 1983 he began       
teaching at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford. He also wrote a book,   
A Study in Fourths, about jazz improvisation based on cycles of fourths and         
fifths.