Cedar Walton Quartet/Georgia Mancio London
In that procession of brilliant jazz musicians - from Wayne Shorter to Wynton Marsalis - that passed through the late drum legend Art Blakey's groups, Dallas pianist Cedar Walton still stands tall. He was a member of one of the best Blakey lineups in the early-60s (alongside Shorter and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard), and his 50-year career also included illustrious associations with Duke Ellington, Abbey Lincoln and John Coltrane. The pianist's roots are in the harmony patterns and sharp melodic turns of bebop, but his original phrasing and rigorous logic kept the idiom evolving - and those qualities also informed the composing skills that became a talent to rival McCoy Tyner's. Walton's quartet includes tenor saxist Javon Jackson, and he's supported by gifted newcomer Georgia Mancio, a playfully inventive standards and Latin-jazz singer whose partners include the jazz flautist Gareth Lockrane.
· Ronnie Scott's, W1, Wed 19 to Fri 21
