Russel Walder
Encyclopedia
Russel Walder is an American
Jazz
oboist
. He is the founder of Nomad Soul Records and one of the top contemporary oboists in the world, composing, recording, touring and furthering the possibilities of the oboe.
. Following his graduation from Deerfield High School
, he briefly attended the University of Arizona in Tucson Arizona.
He then also attended The Boston Conservatory of Music
, and The California Institute of the Arts. He also studied privately with teachers at The New England Conservatory of Music. At age 17 he toured Europe and North American with the United States Youth Symphony appearing in Carnegie Hall
and Royal Albert Hall
among many notable venues. Walder came onto the contemporary jazz instrumental scene quickly in 1982, at the age of 19, after joining Windham Hill Records
and then recording Elements with pianist Ira Stein. The pair met at Naropa Institute while studying with the jazz fusion group Oregon. Walder also studied with Oregon Jazz legend Paul McCandles. After the success of Elements, Walders next recording, 1986's Transit, again with Stein, also included performances by Bruce Hornsby
and mixing by Mark Isham
. Walder then signed to Narada Records
releasing Under The Eye again with Stein. The recording also featured Marc Anderson, the percussionist from the Steve Tibbetts Group. The duo toured Europe and Spain numerous times with an expanded lineup of side musicians and also performed with Kurt Wortman. The pair headlined at the Spain Expo
of 1992 in Seville
.
Walder went on with his solo career by recording with California label Real Music with his release Pure Joy which went on to claim the number one spot on several US radio charts. In 2006 after moving to New Zealand to appear as lead actor in the award winning feature film The Lunatics Ball, Walder launched his own music label, Nomad Soul Records. His first release RISE was launched in March 2007.
Russel Walder also released notable side projects and duets, trios and quartets with musicians such as Will Ackerman, Suzanne Ciani
. Michael Gettel, Balafon Marimba Ensemble, Andrew White
, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
and many others. Russel Walder has also contributed as a composer and performer to many compilations including The Windham Hill Sampler 1986, Comfort Music, Meditation, Windham Hill
, The First Ten years, Sanctuary
, Dreamscape, Sonia Gaia Collection One, Freedom To Love, and Winters Solstice. His work on Winters Solstice earned him a Grammy Nomination for Best Instrumental Album in 1988 and went on to also earn him 2 gold records and a Platinum sales award.
Russel Walder has been touring for more than 20 years and has written over 60 pieces and continues to push limits in both his composition and performance.
and has scored several soundtracks for the Discovery Channel
. RISE was the first CD from Nomad Soul Records and featured Walder arranging, producing, recording, mixing,
composing, and performing all of the instruments on the CD including the middle eastern sounding Duduk. Walder also played all keyboards, percussion, drumming, and piano on RISE as well as extending the use of complex mixing and sampling technologies. He has been in demand as a soundtrack composer and producer.
Duets
Trios
With the Walder /Stein duo
Symphonic Projects and Soundtracks
Collaborations
With Female Vocalists
Compilations
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
oboist
Oboist
An oboist is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the cor anglais, oboe d'amore, shawm and oboe musette....
. He is the founder of Nomad Soul Records and one of the top contemporary oboists in the world, composing, recording, touring and furthering the possibilities of the oboe.
Biography
Walder was born and raised in Deerfield, IllinoisDeerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
. Following his graduation from Deerfield High School
Deerfield High School (Illinois)
Deerfield High School, or DHS, is a public four-year high school in Deerfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 113, which also includes Highland Park High School....
, he briefly attended the University of Arizona in Tucson Arizona.
He then also attended The Boston Conservatory of Music
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory is a performing arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance and musical theater...
, and The California Institute of the Arts. He also studied privately with teachers at The New England Conservatory of Music. At age 17 he toured Europe and North American with the United States Youth Symphony appearing in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
among many notable venues. Walder came onto the contemporary jazz instrumental scene quickly in 1982, at the age of 19, after joining Windham Hill Records
Windham Hill Records
Windham Hill Records is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment specializing in Acoustic, New Age and Folk music. Originally founded in 1976 as an Independent record label by guitarist and carpenter William Ackerman and his then-wife Anne Robinson, Windham Hill was a successful and well-respected...
and then recording Elements with pianist Ira Stein. The pair met at Naropa Institute while studying with the jazz fusion group Oregon. Walder also studied with Oregon Jazz legend Paul McCandles. After the success of Elements, Walders next recording, 1986's Transit, again with Stein, also included performances by Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...
and mixing by Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
. Walder then signed to Narada Records
Narada Productions
Narada is a record label formed 1983 as an independent New Age music label and distributed by MCA Records. Now a fully owned subsidiary of EMI, Narada evolved through an expansion of formats to include music from other styles including world music, jazz, Celtic music, new flamenco, acoustic guitar...
releasing Under The Eye again with Stein. The recording also featured Marc Anderson, the percussionist from the Steve Tibbetts Group. The duo toured Europe and Spain numerous times with an expanded lineup of side musicians and also performed with Kurt Wortman. The pair headlined at the Spain Expo
Seville Expo '92
The Universal Exposition of Seville took place from Monday, April 20 to Monday, October 12, 1992 on La Isla de La Cartuja , Seville, Spain. The theme for the Expo was "The Age of Discovery" and over 100 countries were represented...
of 1992 in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
.
Walder went on with his solo career by recording with California label Real Music with his release Pure Joy which went on to claim the number one spot on several US radio charts. In 2006 after moving to New Zealand to appear as lead actor in the award winning feature film The Lunatics Ball, Walder launched his own music label, Nomad Soul Records. His first release RISE was launched in March 2007.
Russel Walder also released notable side projects and duets, trios and quartets with musicians such as Will Ackerman, Suzanne Ciani
Suzanne Ciani
Suzanne Ciani is an Italian American pianist and music composer who found early success with innovative electronic music.-Education:...
. Michael Gettel, Balafon Marimba Ensemble, Andrew White
Andrew White (saxophonist)
Andrew White is an American jazz/R'n'B multi-instrumentalist , musicologist and publisher.-Biography:...
, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....
and many others. Russel Walder has also contributed as a composer and performer to many compilations including The Windham Hill Sampler 1986, Comfort Music, Meditation, Windham Hill
Windham Hill Records
Windham Hill Records is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment specializing in Acoustic, New Age and Folk music. Originally founded in 1976 as an Independent record label by guitarist and carpenter William Ackerman and his then-wife Anne Robinson, Windham Hill was a successful and well-respected...
, The First Ten years, Sanctuary
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
, Dreamscape, Sonia Gaia Collection One, Freedom To Love, and Winters Solstice. His work on Winters Solstice earned him a Grammy Nomination for Best Instrumental Album in 1988 and went on to also earn him 2 gold records and a Platinum sales award.
Russel Walder has been touring for more than 20 years and has written over 60 pieces and continues to push limits in both his composition and performance.
Nomad Soul Records
Russel Walder launched Nomad Soul Records in 2006 from his state of the art recording studios in Auckland New Zealand. He has ventured in Feature Film Soundtracksand has scored several soundtracks for the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
. RISE was the first CD from Nomad Soul Records and featured Walder arranging, producing, recording, mixing,
composing, and performing all of the instruments on the CD including the middle eastern sounding Duduk. Walder also played all keyboards, percussion, drumming, and piano on RISE as well as extending the use of complex mixing and sampling technologies. He has been in demand as a soundtrack composer and producer.
Producer / Composer
In 2005 he produced and co-composed 'Kura Huna' with New Zealand singer, WhiriMako Black. Kura Huna was based around stories from the Tuhoe Tribe that were hundreds of years old. These laments were highly poetic and mournful. In 2011 he again Produced another album for Whirimako for Ode Records called, "The Late Night Plays" her first all english album of classic jazz and blues related material.Improviser
Walder has developed a unique signature style of improvisation. This musical language is a combination of jazz, north African chant, Arabic melisma, contemporary European Classicism, ancient Hebrew psalms and modal scales. He has called it 'Nomad Soul Style'.Oboe Contributions
Continuing the tradition of borrowing tones and techniques from a wide array of musical sources, Walder has made alterations to the oboe tone palette. His sound is a complex combination of sophisticated mixing filters, custom designed room reverbs, and oboe reed designs. Walders oboe reeds are a step forward in reed design having studied the vibrational patterns that oboe cane possesses.Discography
Solo Recordings- Bruce Lipton's Music for a Shift in Consciousness (2011)
- Rise (2006)
- The Breathing of the World (2005)
- Pure Joy (2002)
Duets
- Guitarra Cheltica with Andrew White (1999)
- Elements with Ira Stein 1982
Trios
- Past Light with William Ackerman & Ira Stein (1983)
With the Walder /Stein duo
- Elements (1982)
- Transit (1986)
- Under the Eye (1990)
Symphonic Projects and Soundtracks
- Kakadu National; Park (2007) Discovery Channel
- Fiordland National Park (2007) Discovery Channel
- Standing on the Shoulders of the many (2006)
- Reluctant Revolutionary (2005)
- Ice Bow New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (1999) (from the film, The Lunatics Ball)
Collaborations
- History of my Heart with Suzanne Ciani (1989)
- Places in Time 1992) with Michael Gettel
- Harare to Kisangani (1993 ) with Balafon
- Guitarra Celtica with Andrew White (1999)
- Joan of Arc (1999) with Radha Sahar ,
- And as a key player on many other projects.
With Female Vocalists
- One Caitlin Smith 2002
Compilations
- Windham Hill Sampler (1986 -Russel Walder)
- Windham Hill: First Ten years 1990
- Sonia Gaia Collection One (1990)
- Narada Collection One (1990 ) Russel Walder
- Winters Solstice ll (1990) Russel Walder
- Sanctuary (1996) Russel Walder )
- Meditation (2001 - Russel Walder)
- Dreamscape (2000) Russel Walder
- Freedom To Love (2002) Russel Walder
- Comfort Music 1 (2004) - Russel Walder