For decades, Seattle has counted pianist Walt Wagner among its enduring musical presences, a refined jazz stylist whose polished technique lends an elegant cast to both enduring standards and recent pop and rock material. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, he began studying piano near the age of six and first encountered jazz through his father, the director of a regional dance ensemble. Professional work arrived in the 1950s when he joined the rock and roll group the Exotics. The 1970s found him performing aboard cruise ships, where he opened for comedy figures that included George Burns and Bob Hope, before he made Seattle his permanent base. Starting in 1996, he drew steady audiences as the house pianist at Canlis Restaurant in Seattle. Although his programs at first centered on jazz standards, the next two decades brought an increasing number of contemporary rock and pop songs recast in his urbane jazz manner. Recordings appeared throughout this span, beginning with the 1998 classical album Walt Wagner: The Miracle; Rhythms. Later collections focused on covers, among them 2004’s Pearls, Vol. 1 and 2007’s In the Pink: Music of Pink Floyd. Sub Pop Records issued Reworks in 2017, documenting Wagner’s final appearance at Canlis Restaurant and featuring his treatments of material by DJ Shadow, Band of Horses, Prince, and additional artists.
