Walter Benton

Walter Benton, a West Coast tenor saxophonist, opened his career with a cool, blues-rooted style before diving into freer, more untamed expression and later reclaiming his early foundations. He took up the saxophone during high school in Los Angeles. After three years of army service, he cut a 1954 date with Kenny Clarke and joined a jam session alongside Max Roach and Clifford Brown. Between 1954 and 1957 Benton performed Afro-Latin jazz with Prez Prado, including an Asian tour in 1956. He next appeared as soloist in Victor Feldman’s orchestra and led his own New York group on record. Benton contributed to the groundbreaking sessions by Max Roach, Julian Priester, and Abbey Lincoln in 1960–61, yet returned to Los Angeles that same year. Later in the decade he played and recorded with Gerald Wilson and John Anderson.