The Man Called Bish....

My dear friend Walter Bishop, Jr., aka Bish, was a pianist and composer who came of age during the Bebop era. Growing up on the streets of Harlem during the late 30s and early 40s, his friends were Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Arthur Taylor. A Bud Powell disciple, he played with Miles and Bird and later led his own Trios.
I met Bish in 1976 when he was playing with Clark Terry. We became instant friends and he was the subject of my first published article Jazz Warrior Marches On in Down Beat magazine back in February of 1977. In 1987 I produced Walter Bishop's VHS Master Class which detailed his Theory of Fourths and included some lovely solo piano, and his poetry.

I have taken several segments from that video, and posted on YouTube, creating a Walter Bishop, Jr. page which includes one of his last Trio performances, featuring bassist Paul Brown; his Theory of Fourths; Bish on Comping and Chord Voicings; Solo Piano versions of some of his later compositions, and two poems, Max The Invincible Roach, and, Thelonious and the Keyboard Bugs. Also included is an interview with Sonny Rollins where he talks about Bish.

Bish passed in 1998 at the age of 70. Hopefully the posting of these videos will keep his memory alive and introduce new generations to my friend who, as a young man, kept a picture of Bud Powell in his wallet.
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