Full Moon

The Crusaders: Wilton Felder (tenor sax), Wayne Henderson (trombone), Larry Carlton, Arthur Adams and David T. Walker (electric guitar), Joe Sample (keyboards), Chuck Rainey (electric bass) and Stix Hooper (drums, percussion). From the album Crusaders 1 (1972).

David T. Walker collaborated in Crusaders 1 (1972) by jazz-funk group The Crusaders; in Michael Jackson’s Ben (1972); in Dollar$ (1972), Body Heat (1974) and Roots (1977) by singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record and film producer Quincy Jones; in Soul Makossa (1973) by Afro funk combo Afrique; in Street Lady (1973) by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd; in Blacks and Blues (1973) by soul jazz, jazz-funk and jazz fusion singer and flutist Bobbi Humphrey: in Fantasy (1973) by pop/rock singer and songwriter Carole King; in Let’s Get It On (1973) and I Want You (1976) by singer, composer and record producer Marvin Gaye, who was instrumental in defining the Motown sound during the 1960s; in Nishoku no Koma (1974) by Japanese singer and composer Yōsui Inoue; in The Man Incognito (1976) by jazz fusion drummer Alphonse Mouzon; in Just Family (1977) by jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater; and in Bundle of Joy (1977) by acclaimed jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

In 1981, after releasing three hit albums, The Crusaders keyboardist Joe Sample wanted to go back to his roots and called Walker to record Swing Street Cafe (1981) as a tribute to classic rhythm and blues. In 1887 Walker joined The Baked Potato label and released Y-Ence (1987) and With A Smile (1988), and then Ahimsa (1989), a dynamic album with focused and effective solos, for Half Moon; Soul Food Cafe (1989) for Soul Food Cafe; and ...From My Heart (1993), Dream Catcher (1994) and Beloved (1995) for Edoya. In 2008 the compilation album David T. Walker 1971-1976: Best of Best went on sale and Walker was part of the Bill Crosby’s band at the Playboy Jazz Festival. That same year he was hired by DCT Records, a Japanese label with which he published Thoughts (2008), Wear My Love (2009) and For All Time (2010).

His last recording was Billboard Live Tokyo (2015), which includes a performance at the Billboard Live in Tokyo with the great guitarist Larry Carlton. For the last few years he has been playing with Japanese pop group Dreams Come True and touring Japan with his own band. In 2017 Universal Music launched Music For Your Heart: Best of David T. Walker. His song “On Love” was sampled by hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest and his guitar riff in Joe Sample’s “In All My Wildest Dreams” by rapper Tupac Shakur. He has also been sampled by the hip hop trio De La Soul, the rappers Busta Rhymes and Pete Rock, and others.