Born in St. Louis, MO, in July of 1938, Donald Walden lived in Clarksville, TN, before moving to Detroit, MI, with his mother in 1946. He started playing the saxophone in his middle teens, taking classes at the Larry Teal School of Music and the Detroit Community Music School. He studied improvisation with Barry Harris and Yusef Lateef, and had as classmates Roy Brooks, Charles McPherson, and Lonnie Hillyer. As the mass exodus of Detroiters headed to New York City, Walden also took up residence in the Big Apple by 1960. There he picked up gigs with Grant Green, Joe Chambers, Booker Ervin, and Sun Ra. Back in Detroit by 1966, he was given opportunities to accompany the greatest names in the local soul scene, including being with Aretha Franklin's band for five years. Walden also toured with Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, and the Four Tops. Finding a place in the local public school system as a teacher, Walden found his calling while also making his way as one of the best jazz tenor saxophonists to hail from the Motor City. When hard times fell on the Detroit scene in the ‘80s, Walden founded the New World Stage in the Harmonie Park district. It was a family-friendly, alcohol-free, all-ages performance space that consistently showcased the cream of the crop of local, national touring, and former Detroit jazz players coming back home for a spell.

Always a staunch proponent of bebop, Walden produced a tribute to Charlie Parker at the 1990 Detroit International Jazz Festival with an 18-piece big band, large string section, and 30-voice choir conducted by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Guest soloists for this Yardbird Suite included Dizzy Gillespie, Charles McPherson, Barry Harris, and Walden. This inspired the saxophonist to form the Detroit Jazz Orchestra, playing repertoire from a wide variety of bop sources. Shortly thereafter, Walden became more involved in academia, teaching at Michigan State University, Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and the University of Michigan, where he became a tenured professor. He was a mentor to the likes of now prominent jazz artists Rodney Whitaker, Geri Allen, Robert Hurst, and Regina Carter. He released three independent self-produced CDs: A Portrait of You, A Monk a Mingus Among Us, and Focus: The Music of Tadd Dameron. The saxophonist received the prestigious Michigan Governor's Arts Award in 1985 for the contributions of his Detroit Jazz Orchestra, and in 1996 he was named a Jazz Master by Arts Midwest. His last band was the ensemble Free Radicals, featuring Cassius Richmond and Marion Hayden. Donald Walden died Sunday, April 6, 2008, at home in Detroit at age 69 of longstanding complications with cancer. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi