The American pianist Walter Norris (1931-2011) ranks among the great but quiet heroes of his art. Before his death in 2011, he recorded a magical concert with the star pianist of Polish jazz, Leszek Możdżer, at the Berlin jazz club “A-Trane” on two separate pianos. It remains the last recording of Walter Norris and to pay tribute to this outstanding artist, a year on from his passing ACT releases The Last Set – Live at the A-Trane.
It was in Berlin where Walter Norris first met Leszek Możdżer who recollects, It was in the 90’s and I was still a teenager when I listened to the music of Walter Norris for the first time at a friend’s flat in Berlin. I was fascinated by the intensity and originality of Walter’s playing from the first moment on and ten years later he came to a concert of mine at the Berlin Polish Institute. We quickly got to know each other and I was deeply impressed by his personality, openness and helpfulness.
Możdżer then suggested Norris and him collaborate for a couple of concerts in Berlin and Poland. They developed a concept, rehearsed together and, on 2nd November 2008, played live for the first time on two pianos at the Berlin jazz club A-Trane, a place where Walter was a regular musical guest. The concert became one of these rare, great experiences for everyone involved – full of true music, deep but making everyone smile with bliss at the same time. Możdżer recalls. The concert remained their only collaboration: On the night of October 29, 2011, Walter Norris died in his home in Berlin at the age of 79.
In the words of Leszek Możdżer, Walter didn’t have a big career, he just played music. He was a true artist, though he often shone in the background, and it is about time someone drew attention to him. ‘The Last Set’ – Live at the A-Trane is the impressive and worthy legacy of a unique musician full of curiosity, versatility, persuasiveness, a strong attitude and technical brilliance. - ACT Music
Walter Norris (born 1931) was a part of the west coast jazz scene from 1954 to 1960 and played with all famous local musicians Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Mariano, Herb Geller. In 1958 he appeared on Ornette Coleman s legendary recording Something Else!!! . Two years later Norris went to New York, where he worked at Hugh Heffner s Playboy club from 1963 to 1970, first as a pianist and then as artistic director. Norris came to Europe with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra in the early 70s and recorded several albums including the acclaimed LP Drifting with George Mraz. After a short stay in New York with Charles Mingus Quintet, he accepted a job in the Berlin SFB Radio Orchestra in 1977 and moved to Berlin permanently. He later became a professor for jazz piano at the Berlin Music University Hochschule der Künste and continued working as a composer and musicologist. Polish jazz star Leszek Mozdzer was a Norris fan and they met in Berlin, collaborating once only for a gig in Nov 2008 at Berlin jazz club the A-Train. On the night of October 29, 2011, Walter Norris died in his home in Berlin at the age of 79. After one year, almost to the day, ACT releases Last Set Live at the A-Trane , a recorded dialogue between the two outstanding pianists and extending the legacy of an unjustly unknown artist. As Mozdzer explains, 'Walter didn t have a big career, he just played music. He was a true artist, though he often shone in the background, and it is about time someone drew attention to him'. - carturesti.ro
When Walter Norris died last year aged 79 the few obituaries that ran referred to the fact that the US pianist was on Ornette Coleman's album Something Else!!!, an appearance that may outlast the instant tributes, but certainly not the importance of that period of the 1950s in jazz history, even if Norris was a bit player. Leszek Możdżer in the early part of his career was in a band in Poland called Młość and Ornette Coleman's music was at the centre of that groundbreaking outfit's world, so his interest in the pianist is fitting for this reason alone although Możdżer was not aware of the pianist at the time. This album, a two-piano affair with no other instruments in sight, was recorded at the Berlin club A-Trane, and it is an honest album, faithful in the way the audience sound is captured, and in the fidelity of the instruments. While two-piano albums often have an all-you-can-eat tangle of notes to them and nearly always seem too busy, this album like the very best of this specialised area within jazz (eg the 1978 album An Evening With Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea: In Concert) has a lucidity to it. Możdżer clearly adapts his very easily distinguishable playing, which is grounded in Komeda and Wayne Shorter, with his own arsenal of gracenotes and little leaps and bounds to fit Norris’ style, which is more opaque but very stimulating. The pair did not work together again, which makes this a valuable and even quite touching document, but it's more than that as Norris’ own tunes are really very lovely particularly ‘Reflective’, and it's a triumph of the underdog ultimately.
When did you first get to know Walter Norris’ music?
The first time was when I was taking part in a cultural exchange of students when I was 18 or 19 years old. I heard it at73x0027; a friend's house. I was really thrilled I had suddenly discovered a new name not on the market. It was a live recording I heard, a different world and the music of Walter Norris had a personal touch. After he died his wife showed me his papers, how he had a number system and practice routines, involving different meters for each hand. The paper was covered with numbers, and it took me a while to work it out.
What sort of person was he?
He was sensitive. He told me he fell out with Mingus because he accidentally called him Charlie instead of Charles, and Mingus got mad. That was the main reason Walter came to live in Europe. He wanted to stay in the shade, and not be in showbusiness, and so he taught in Berlin. He was like a scientist, analysing the music.
Tell me about the night at the A-Trane you recorded this album. How did it feel?
It was a testing concert. We planned to do gigs together, and this was a way to find out how to understand each other, gain a connection. We were playing long takes, some 14-17 minutes long, and I edited some down later. Walter's doctor told him he was not allowed to play any more concerts because of his heart, and he died in his flat. His wife said he was smiling the last time they talked.
Do you like to play in a two-pianist situation?
I did an album before with Adam Makowicz at Carnegie Hall [released in 2005]. It's not easy, getting the pianos right, the same tuning, and the same quality. Promoters don't like it either. You don't want to overload the music for the audience. That night at the A-Trane I didn't think I was able to resonate 100 percent, but I was fascinated. Walter Norris was a significant, amazing person and it's important for me to release this. - Stephen Graham / Jazzwise
“Walter was incomparable and unmistakeable in his style – you couldn’t say he plays like anyone, Walterwas Walter. Simply unforgotten – simply great.” (Rolf Kühn)
Tracks
1. Tactics (Leszek Mozdzer)
2. From Another Star (Walter Norris)
3. Head Set Trance (Leszek Mozdzer)
4. Reflective (Walter Norris)
5. Spider Web (Aladar Pege)
6. Nefertiti (Wayne Shorter)
7. Postscript Blues (Walter Norris)
8. Tsunami (Leszek Mozdzer)
WALTER NORRIS piano
LESZEK MOZDZER piano
Recorded live at the A-Trane Berlin on Nov. 2nd, 2008
ACT Music - ACT 9540-2 (Germany)