Toronto-based jazz pianist and composer Nancy Walker has been a mainstay of the Canadian jazz scene for more than fifteen years, praised for her work as a side player (live and in the studio) with instrumentalists and singers alike – from Ottawa bassist John Geggie, to Vancouver vocalist Karin Plato, to Toronto saxophonist Kirk MacDonald, to Swedish transplant, guitarist Mikko Hildén. She was voted Keyboardist of the Year at the 2008 National Jazz Awards and won the Grand Prix de Jazz at the 2003 Montreal International Jazz Festival. Her CD "Rainy Days and Mondays" was nominated for a JUNO Award as Instrumental Album Of The Year in 2006. "New Hieroglyphics" is Nancy’s latest release. Comprising eleven of her original compositions in styles that range from the lyrical to the abstract, the recording is her most intrepid effort yet. Featuring her current working quartet (guitarist Ted Quinlan, bassist Kieran Overs and drummer Ethan Ardelli), "New Hieroglyphics" reflects her view of the age we live in - at times intense, at times poignant, at times cerebral.
“Nancy Walker has played enough piano to know how to keep listeners interested however hard she pushes the boundaries of familiarity. Her 11 original compositions on New Hieroglyphics are often fiercely inventive, while some amazingly seem ripe for dancing.” Geoff Chapman, Whole Note Magazine
“New Hieroglyphics is front-loaded with more raucous, somewhat harder-edged fare”... “With the brash modal tune Mehndi, Walker and her band mates (guitarist Ted Quinlan, bassist Kieran Overs, drummer Ethan Ardelli) hit the ground rocking. While Walker may have put lyricism before aggression in the past, her new CD's opening track flips that dichotomy.” Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
"...the eclectic, esoteric and unfailingly accessible New Hieroglyphics finds the ever-intrepid Walker pushing through borders into dynamic new territory, even as she retains all the markers that have drawn people to her in the first place. " John Kelman, Allaboutjazz
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