Walt Weiskopf

Walt Weiskopf emerged as a potent tenor saxophonist and composer firmly in the tradition of John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins after his birth in Augusta, GA, and his upbringing in Syracuse, NY. He moved to New York City and entered the Buddy Rich Big Band in 1981 when he turned 21. Two years afterward he joined the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra while simultaneously assembling his own quartet that featured brother Joel on trumpet, Jay Anderson on bass, and Jeff Hirshfeld on drums. Exact Science marked his debut in 1989, and Mindwalking followed the next year. Simplicity arrived in 1992 and held the top spot on the European jazz charts for four weeks. Following 1993’s A World Away, Weiskopf issued Night Lights in 1995, his first project devoted entirely to standards rather than original material. Song for My Mother restored the emphasis on his own compositions when it appeared in 1997. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, Weiskopf collaborated with fellow alum Ramon Ricker in 1990 on the volumes Coltrane: A Player’s Guide to His Harmony and The Augmented Scale in Jazz. He also released Intervalic Improvisation in 1994, a guide aimed at expanding options for modern jazz improvisation. He became a member of drummer Rick Hollander’s quartet in 1996 and resurfaced as a leader with Anytown in 1999. Siren came out the following year.