childs was playing professionally as a teenager, and he made his recording debut in 1977 with the j. j. johnson quintet during a tour of japan that is documented as the yokohama concert. he gained significant attention during his six-years (1978–84) playing with trumpeter freddie hubbard's group. while influenced early on in his playing by herbie hancock, keith emerson, and chick corea and in his composing by paul hindemith, maurice ravel, and igor stravinsky, childs nevertheless had an original conception of his own from near the start, developing his own voice as both a pianist and a composer in jazz and classical music genres.