Frank Walton
Frank completed his elementary and secondary education in the segregated Birmingham Public School System. He began studying the trumpet at age eleven at Lincoln Elementary School. Frank Adams was his band teacher. In High School, Frank became a member of the renowned A H Parker High School Marching Band. Frank broadened his educational pursuits at Tennessee State University by becoming a member of the “Aristocrat of Bands.” Frank also studied with the legendary Trumpeter and instructor Louis Smith. He married Levaughn Craig on January 1, 1966. They went on to share 54 years of married life – “together as one.” They were blessed with two sons. Frank received his Bachelors of Science degree in Music Education at Tennessee State University. After graduation, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. He then joined the Chicago Public School System as a music teacher. In addition to Frank’s teaching school in Chicago for thirty-four years, he continued to pursue his education. He now holds a Master of Music degree in Trumpet and Theory from the American Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music Education and Trumpet from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. Frank became a fixture on Chicago’s rich, classical, jazz and pop scenes. He performed with the John Stubbefield Quartet, the Sonny Turner/Johnny Board Orchestra, the Trio “Air” Henry Thredgrill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins. He also performed with the Morris Ellis Orchestra for many years in Chicago. He sat in with Booker Ervin, Lenny White, Stanley Clarke, Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Gary Bartz in New York. On September 5, 1982, Frank opened for Miles Davis at the Chicago Jazz Festival. Frank’s recordings include: The Frank Walton/Yoron Israel Sextet “Live in Chicago,” The Frank Walton Sextet and “The Back Stop,” and Frank Walton “Reality.”
