David T. Walker


David Tyrone Walker is an American guitarist born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued fifteen albums in his own name.

Career

David Tyrone Walker was born to a Native American mother and African American father. He attended David Starr Jordan High School in the Watts area of Los Angeles. He has recorded fifteen solo albums since his debut release, The Sidewalk, in 1967. He has also been a session rhythm and lead guitarist, appearing on numerous soul, funk, and jazz releases. His backup work was featured on several notable albums of the early 1970s, including Stevie Wonder's Innervisions; Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On and I Want You; Carole King's Rhymes & Reasons and Fantasy; The Jackson 5's Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, ABC, and Maybe Tomorrow; Michael Jackson's Ben; and Quincy Jones's Body Heat. He also played with the combo Afrique on its 1973 Afro funk release Soul Makossa.
Other musicians Walker has worked with over the years include James Brown, Ray Charles, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Martha and the Vandellas, Four Tops, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Billy Preston, Bobby Womack, Barry White, Hampton Hawes, Herbie Hancock, Lou Rawls, Willie Hutch, Jeffrey Osborne, Johnny Bristol, Solomon Burke, Cannonball Adderley, B.B. King, Pharoah Sanders, Donald Byrd, The Crusaders, Joe Sample, Sarah Vaughan, Sérgio Mendes, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Gerald Levert, and Boz Scaggs.
His song "On Love" was sampled on the breakbeat compilation album Tribe Vibes Vol. 2 by the group A Tribe Called Quest. His guitar riff on Joe Sample's "In All My Wildest Dreams" was sampled on Tupac Shakur's song "Dear Mama".
Walker played in Bill Cosby's all-star band at the 2008 Playboy Jazz Festival.
Recently he has gained popularity in Japan for playing guitar for the pop music group Dreams Come True, and on band member Miwa Yoshida's solo albums, and has also performed live with them. He also leads his group on tours of Japan each year. He recently toured Japan with Marlena Shaw, Larry Carlton and a Brazilian artist Ed Motta. His earlier albums have found new life by being reissued in Japanese editions, along with "best of" collections. An album titled Thoughts was released in Japan in 2008. A holiday album titled Wear My Love was released in Japan in 2009. For All Time was released in 2010.

Discography

As Leader

With Etta James
With Martha & The Vandellas
With Stevie Wonder
With The Jackson 5
With Marvin Gaye
With Cannonball Adderley
With Donald Byrd
  • Ethiopian Knights
  • Black Byrd
  • Street Lady
  • Stepping into Tomorrow
  • Caricatures
With Herbie Hancock
  • Man-Child
With Richard "Groove" Holmes
With Freddie Hubbard
  • Bundle of Joy
  • Splash
With Bobbi Humphrey
  • Blacks and Blues
With Yōsui Inoue
  • Nishoku no Koma
With Quincy Jones
  • Dollar$
  • Body Heat
  • Roots
With Blue Mitchell
With Alphonse Mouzon
  • The Man Incognito
With Jeffrey Osborne
  • Jeffrey Osborne
With Marlena Shaw
  • Who Is This Bitch, Anyway?
With Stanley Turrentine
  • Pieces of Dreams
  • In the Pocket
  • Have You Ever Seen the Rain
  • Betcha
  • La Place
With Vulfpeck
  • Christmas in L.A.
  • Thrill of the Arts
  • Game Winner
  • Running Away
  • Grandma
With Dee Dee Bridgewater'