Ortiz Montaigne - Art of the Bass Viol (Ath)

I write Ortiz Montaigne here as that is how this musician is represented on his disc, but this is a baroque recital by bassist Dr. Ortiz Walton. I first came in contact with Walton through a conversation with the late Art Davis, who directed me to Walton’s book Music: Black, White and Blue. Published by William Morrow in 1972, it is a scorchingly intense précis of that which Frank Kofsky would later call Black Music, White Business; Walton, however, brings his musicianship to bear on a study that is at once historically broad and insightfully focused. He devotes a chapter to Art Davis’ discrimination case against the New York Philharmonic, about which my own curiosity led me to interview both men at length. In the process, Davis stated repeatedly that Walton was the best classical bassist he’d ever heard.

The first few notes of Bach’s famous air on a G-String support Davis’ claim. Walton’s tone is strident but never overbearing, and his use of vibrato is, in good period style, spare and tasteful. Throughout this exquisite concert, recorded in Paris, he imbues every note with his obvious love for and knowledge of the music. Harpsichordist Jory Vinikour is a perfect foil, both matching mood and spirit with finesse and skill. While the Bach sonata in D-Major is lush and vibrant, of particular interest to me was the work of Henry Eccles, of whom I had never heard. His faster movements exude wit, while the slower are stately and graceful, Walton’s beautiful ornaments and expressive phrasing being employed to particularly good effect.

It is no wonder that the eminent Charles Munch loved Ortiz Walton’s playing enough to make him the first African American bassist in the Boston Symphony (1957-1962) but Walton also speaks fondly of having played in one of Bill Evans’ first groups! Such an accomplished and multitalented musician, not to mention a freedom fighter, deserves as much exposure as possible. Why his early 1960s activities, with Art Davis, resulting in the introduction of antidiscrimination bylaws to the 802 book hasn’t gotten more press is beyond me. I now know that he is as formidable a musician as he is eloquent in prose, and my respect for him has increased tenfold.

~ Marc Medwin