Walter Blanding

Walter Blanding
Blanding with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Lyon, France, 2016
Background information
Born
Walter Blanding Jr.

(1971-08-14) August 14, 1971 (age 55)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
GenreJazz
OccupationMusician
Instruments
Years active1990s–present
LabelCriss Cross Jazz
Formerly ofJazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Maurice Ravel Auditorium, Lyon, France, 2016. From left: Paul Nedzela, Blanding, Sherman Irby, Ted Nash, and Victor Goines.

Walter Blanding Jr. (born August 14, 1971) is an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Blanding grew up in a musical family in New York City. His father, a bassist, and his mother, a pianist and singer, both played in the house band at the Village Gate jazz club, and Blanding played with them as a teenager. He studied under Barry Harris and went to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. With the group Tough Young Tenors, in 1991, he made his debut recording. For four years in the mid-1990s, he lived in Israel, where he taught music in Israeli schools. After returning to the United States, he became a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in 1998, and was involved with live performances of Wynton Marsalis's Blood on the Fields.

Blanding has performed or recorded with Farid Barron, Cab Calloway, the Count Basie Orchestra, Cab Calloway, Wycliffe Gordon, Rodney Green [de], Roy Hargrove, the Harper Brothers (Philip and Winard), Louis Hayes, Illinois Jacquet, Ryan Kisor, Odean Pope, Eric Reed, Marcus Roberts, and Rodney Whitaker, among others.

Since 2023, Blanding has taught as the assistant professor of jazz saxophone at Michigan State University.

Other work

As a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (later renamed the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra), Blanding spent time at the band's Shanghai branch, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai. During his there, in 2018–2020, he also worked with the student jazz band at Shanghai Community International School Pudong.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Wynton Marsalis

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kernfeld, Barry Dean, ed. (2002). "Blanding, Walter (Jr.)". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: MacMillan. p. 237. ISBN 1-56159-284-6. OCLC 301053548. Retrieved August 24, 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 "Walter Blanding joins MSU Jazz faculty". Michigan State University. August 25, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Saxophonist Walter Blanding – With the Future Jazz Head All-Stars". KNKX Public Radio. April 28, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Walter Blanding". All About Jazz. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Principal's Post #20 | Jazz Master Class". SCIS Pudong Upper School Principals' Post. Shanghai Community International School. January 25, 2019. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019.
  6. ↑ "The Olive Tree". Criss Cross Jazz. Retrieved August 24, 2026.