A Virginia writer named Regina Brayboy, who interviewed Bell for an upcoming book, “Finding Your Own Yellow Brick Road,” wrote that Bell “hears the slightest change in tempo in the human voice and picks up any other sounds that permeate the airways such as a red bird chirping near his back patio.”[/caption]

by Len Lear

There might be no more accomplished jazz musician in Philadelphia than longtime Chestnut Hill resident Walter Bell, 60-ish, a self-taught flutist (“It's flattering to me that people don't believe me when I tell them I never even had a flute teacher”) who has played with some of the legends in the jazz and soul world such as Nancy Wilson, Ray Charles, George Benson and the Count Basie Orchestra, among many others. Locally, Bell has rung the bell, you might say, at Allens Lane Art Center and at Chestnut Hill's summertime Pastorius Park concerts.

Bell, who has recorded 16 CDs and toured extensively inside and outside of the U.S., formerly hosted a jazz radio show on a public radio station in Washington, D.C., called the "Latin flavor," and has employed dozens of musicians in Philadelphia, Virginia, New York and Washington. A founder of a record label, Reika Records, he has recorded live at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, done soundtracks for cable TV and for New Millennium Records.

In late 2005, however, Bell was on stage at the Kimmel Center as an opening act for Chick Corea when he suddenly passed out. Bell was in Jefferson Hospital for 30 days, where he was diagnosed with an Arterial Veinous Malformation. One-and-a-half years later he had “gamma knife” surgery for it at Temple Hospital. “It was not exhaustion,” Walter recalled. “My work ethic wouldn’t allow for that.”

A Virginia writer named Regina Brayboy, who is finishing up a book entitled “Finding Your Own Yellow Brick Road” that includes a segment on Bell, recently brought to our attention the fact that although Bell has slowed down because of health considerations, he is still a great jazz ambassador. “My days of breakdancing on the steps of the Art Museum are definitely over,” he told us last week, “and if I cannot give 100 percent, I am not going to cheat people, but I am not retired. I still give lessons, and I am going to the University of Miami in seven days to speak about the business of music.”

Many years ago, I wrote that Bell had a sunshine smile and played the flute with the intensity of a lightning strike. Growing up in West Philadelphia, he was hooked the first time he heard a neighbor’s dad play the flute. "It’s the closest instrument to the human voice," he said, "and a version of it goes back to the beginning of time." Walter wanted to take lessons from a professional from the age of 11, but his family was unable to get a teacher to come into their neighborhood.

As a result, Bell immersed himself in the recordings of great flutists such as Herbie Mann, Dave Valentin, Hubert Laws and Nestor Torres. (Many years later some critics even compared Bell to these legendary jazz musicians. "Of course, I’m so honored to be placed in that category," he said.) Walter played classical music for a while, but his heart and soul were in the improvisation that jazz celebrates. He has played the alto flute, bass flute, concert flute, E-flat flute, Cuban-style flute, piccolo, fife and pennywhistle, as well as those from Asia and Africa.

“But I do not want to play far out music. I want to play music that people want to hear again and again. I'm excited to know that I'm still inspiring people, but popularity does not necessarily equate to talent. D.J.s on the radio cannot play what they want to play; they have to play what they are told to play, and maybe someone is paying the radio station so they will play it.”

Bell's most persistent pet peeve over many years is the young and talented but self-absorbed jazz musicians who can be more trouble than a car with failed brakes. "Many of them only want to play what they like — Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk, for example. Unfortunately, very few paying customers want to listen to that, and these guys do not want to compromise their art. Too many are just playing for other musicians so they can raise some eyebrows, and if you stick to that principle, then you’re going to have to take a day job you don’t really like.

"Club owners only want you there if you can bring in business. You can’t be ‘hustling backwards,’ as my dad used to say. People in the audience might ask for something by Kenny G. I didn’t even know anything by him; it’s not even jazz, but I’d smile and play ‘Milestones’ because I had to eat. So then the crowd is happy. A lot of musicians resent it because they’ve had so many accolades, but if you’re not working, you’re disappearing.

"Would I rather be home in my living room making 100 percent of nothing? I feel it’s worth it to be at the gig if I’m making just one person happy. I’d rather be in the trenches trying to convert people (to jazz). Half a loaf is better than none. And I tell the musicians that you can't take the customers for granted. They are doing you a favor by coming to hear you play."

Bell does not have a website, but if you Google “Walter Bell, flute,” his YouTube videos will come right up.