J-Walking - a new composition by Wynton Guess performed by pianist Aaron Diehl

J-Walking was written for pianist Aaron Diehl as part of the American Composers Orchestra program Connecting ACO Community.

I have known Aaron since I was a child and I was always amazed at his abilities, especially being one of the only people I knew at the time that could play ragtime and stride piano like my hero Marcus “The J Master” Roberts. The piece is based around this relationship we both shared to the stride piano greats like James P. Johnson and Jaki Byard.