Myron Walden - Flutes & Strings

Myron Walden — Flutes & Strings

Mastered for vinyl by Scott Hull

Pressed at Quality Record Pressings

JMI Recordings has followed the Brian Blade Fellowship for years. One of the most unheralded members of that band is saxophonist and flute player Myron Walden. Walden debuted a program with strings about the time that JMI Recordings originated; since then the label has been trying to record that lineup. The leader of that string section is Yoo-Jin Park. Park has appeared on two previous JMI releases as a supporting player.

Myron Walden, born in Miami in October 1972, grew up listening to a wide range of rhythm and blues, blues, soul and gospel music. Moving with his mother to the Bronx at age 12, he was able to procure an alto sax from his middle school music appreciation teacher, and he taught himself to play using an instruction book given to him by a saxophone player who lived in his apartment building. He later 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, and in 1993 won first place in a Charlie Parker competition, which earned him a guest spot with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Walden began his professional career playing with Roy Hargrove's big band at the Jazz Gallery in 1995, then performed at Smalls with artists such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Henderson, Kevin Hays, Stephen Scott, Greg Hutchinson and Eric Harland 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.

Walden took a nearly five-year break from recording as a leader in order to develop his skills on the tenor and soprano saxophones while composing specifically for those instruments. In 2009, he hired Shore Fire Media 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.

His new release for JMI Recordings Flutes & Strings was beautifully recorded by Ben Kane at Electric Garden Studios in the summer of 2023.

Musicians:
Myron Walden, piccolo flute, alto flute, bass flute, concert flute
Yoojin Park, violin 1 & concertmaster
Conway Kuo, violin 2
Entela Barci, viola
Sarah Kwon, cello
Wan Hao Xu, bass

1. Swan Song

2. Again and Again

3. A Wounded Soul

4. Guiding Light

5. They Spoke In Tongues

6. Celestial Beings

7. In The Atmosphere

8. Hymnal

9. Hymnal (Reprise)

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it