One of the premier players in contemporary jazz, pianist Cedar Walton combines rock-solid technique and an urbane lyrical quality with compositional skills that have produced widely played jazz standards such as "Bolivia," "Mosiac" and "Ugetsu." Walton began his recording career during the late-1950s with artists such as Kenny Dorham, J.J. Johnson, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, and others. He joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1961, playing alongside Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. In the 1970s he formed a trio with the late drummer Billy Higgins that set the standard of excellence for a working jazz group for more than 20 years. Cedar Walton has been there and played with the jazz pantheon. Today, Walton is a jazz giant in his prime, as demonstrated by his solo performance on his latest HighNote release, Underground Memoirs. Walton returns to the Stanford Jazz Festival for a rare solo performance in the superb acoustics of Campbell Recital Hall.