Jazz Pianist Arranges Improvisation : Cedar Walton Wants to Keep the Audience Guessing When He Brings His Trio to Maxwell’s

Since the late ‘50s, Cedar Walton has played his piano around the world with the likes of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, J.J. Johnson’s Timeless All-Stars, his own trio (often backing such luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie and Milt Jackson) and his own quartet, Eastern Rebellion.

By now he has reached that upper echelon of jazz status where just about every job he takes is classy and memorable. Still, just because he tours Europe every year, and just because he plays regularly in such renowned jazz haunts as the Village Vanguard and Sweet Basil in New York City and Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, doesn’t mean he’s about to rest on his laurels. Not a chance.

“This is my profession, and I would never take things for granted,” Walton said passionately during a recent interview at his home in West Los Angeles. “In any game, you have to stay in shape. Once you think you’re on top, that’s dangerous.”

How does he stay in shape? “Well, man, one thing is that I got this baby right here,” he answered with a wide grin, affectionately patting the shiny black Steinway B grand piano he bought last year, and which dominates his home.

“I play every day. That’s the luxury of owning a piano,” he said. “You roll out of bed and play it. This is a big part of my life, having this here. The Steinway salesman told me, ‘It’s gonna cost you.’ I said, ‘OK, I can pay for it the rest of my life.’ ”

Walton--who will be at Maxwell’s in Huntington Beach on Friday through Sunday with his trio, which includes drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Tony Dumas--is an outstanding soloist who creates passages that are dynamic rhythmically and bountiful melodically. But he says that improvisations, no matter how solid, aren’t always enough to holds an audience’s attention--or that of band mates.

So he adds extra bits of spice to his performances via inventive and intriguing arrangements, where written and improvised sections are juxtaposed.

“My intention,” he said, “is to make sure the listener won’t be able to predict what will happen next. You know, ‘Well, here’s the melody, now here comes the piano solo, bass solo, drum solo.’ I avoid that life and death. I’d rather die than do that.”

He has known Billy Higgins, a Los Angeles native and one of the finest and most recorded drummers around (he has made hundreds of albums with Ornette Coleman, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock) since the late ‘50s.

They’ve have been steady musical partners since 1975, and Walton says there’s no better drummer for him.

“He has a style that, shall we say, is custom-built for a pianist,” Walton said. “He has a strong, intense feeling that he delivers immediately. He doesn’t have to warm up. His sound is compact. It’s not loud, yet it sizzles. But it can get loud if he wants.

“And he fits nicely” with either Dumas or David Williams, Walton’s East Coast bassist.

“They provide a modern, engaging, swinging beat that’s like a carpet for me. I can fool around, add color to my playing and count on them to be there.”

Walton grew up in a musical family. His mother taught piano and his parents were jazz fans who took him as a child to hear such greats as Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He studied music at the University of Denver from 1951 to 1954, moved to New York City and was drafted into the Army in 1956. In the service, he had one of his most memorable experiences.

“I was at Fort Dix, N.J., and Duke Ellington came to perform.” Walton beamed at the recollection. “My buddy, who was a singer, and I got up the nerve to ask if we could sit in, just do a number with the rhythm section. Duke said”--Walton shifted to deep-voiced impression of the maestro--” ’Go easy on those keys, young man.’

“We played the number; I took a solo; the band even added a finishing phrase. Then Duke walked up to me and in joking manner said, ‘I thought I told you to go easy.’ That’s lasted me until now. I’ll never forget it.”

He returned to New York in 1958 and began his career in the jazz world, working with Blakey, trumpeter Art Farmer and many others before starting his own groups. He has recorded more than 20 albums under his own name, not counting his work as a sideman. He has lived in Los Angeles for about five years.

“I love music as much as anyone, I guess. It’s given me the most pleasure of anything I’ve done or thought about doing.” Asked if retirement ever might be in his plans, he bristled. “Retiring is what you call ludicrous,” he all but barked. “What are you going to retire from? It’s like you’re already doing what you want.”

Cedar Walton plays with Billy Higgins and Tony Dumas Friday and Saturday at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4 and 6 p.m. at Maxwell’s, 317 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach. $5, plus $7 food/drink minimum, per person per show. (714) 536-2555.