Walter Perkins R.I.P.

[Hardbopjazz]

Jazz drummer Walter Perkins, who played with such greats as Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins and Ahmad Jamal, died Feb. 14. He was 72.

The cause was lung cancer, said his wife, Barbara Perkins.

Born in Chicago, he was a leader of the jazz group MJT + 3, which recorded a self-titled album in 1959. After the group disbanded in 1962, Perkins moved to New York and began playing with musicians such as Mingus, Jamal, Gene Ammons and Carmen McRae.

He appeared on dozens of albums; one of his most recent appearances was with William Parker, with whom he recorded "Bob's Pink Cadillac" (2002).

In the 1970s and 1980s he taught drum classes at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn. He lived in Queens and continued to teach and play in local clubs until shortly before his death.

Edited March 2, 2004 by Hardbopjazz

[mikeweil]

Thanks for posting, we already started discussing this here.

[JSngry]

I never knew that Waleter Perkins' wife was on Peyton Place!