Mal Waldron
Albums
This obscure CD reissue has the wrong date listed (it is from February 24, 1959, not November 1957) and fails to mention that altoist Jackie McLean sits in with pianist Mal Waldron's trio [more]
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This CD reissues one of the first Enja recordings, a trio outing for pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Jimmy Woode and drummer Pierre Favre. Waldron has continued to evolve through the [more]
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This double-Lp features pianist Mal Waldron in two very different settings. On the first three songs (including the 20-minute sidelong "Sieg Haile"), he performs three of his compositions in a [more]
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Pianist Mal Waldron's music is characterized by a heavily-brooding rhythmic quality, with the left hand usually carrying the theme at one repetitious tempo while the right [more]
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Clifford Jordan (ts) at his best, dauntless piano. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
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Appearances
Merry Jazzmas features 14 classic Christmas songs interpreted by leading jazz vocalists like Marcus Roberts, Vanessa Rubin, Antonio Hart, Roy Hargrove, Hilton Ruiz, Steve Lacy, and Steve Coleman. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
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In response to critical carping that his ambitious, evocative music somehow didn't swing enough, Charles Mingus returned to the earthiest and earliest sources of black musical [more]
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Pithecanthropus Erectus was Charles Mingus' breakthrough as a leader, the album where he established himself as a composer of boundless imagination and a fresh new voice [more]
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This obscure CD reissue has the wrong date listed (it is from February 24, 1959, not November 1957) and fails to mention that altoist Jackie McLean sits in with pianist Mal Waldron's trio [more]
- List Price: $16.99
- Member Price: $11.98
A Musical Romance gathers some of the most romantic songs Billie Holiday recorded with Lester Young, including "The Man I Love," {"Time on My Hands (You in My Arms),"} [more]
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After having left the ensemble of Charles Mingus and upon working with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy formed a short-lived but potent [more]
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The second of three CDs that document the Eric Dolphy/Booker Little quintet's playing at the Five Spot (the third volume is titled [more]
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Ella Fitzgerald & Billie Holiday at Newport presents the naturally intriguing results when Verve paired two sets recorded two days apart (over the 4th of [more]
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This is the most controversial of all Billie Holiday records. Lady Day herself said that this session (which finds her accompanied by Ray Ellis' string orchestra) was her personal [more]
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Biography
- Born Aug 16th 1926 in New York, NY
- Died Dec 2nd 2002 in Brussels, Belgium
A pianist with a brooding, rhythmic, introverted style, Mal Waldron's playing has long been flexible enough to fit into both hard bop and freer settings. Influenced by Thelonious Monk's use of space, Waldron has had his own distinctive chord voicings nearly from the start. Early on, Waldron played jazz on alto and classical music on piano, but he switched permanently to jazz piano while at Queens College. He freelanced around New York in the early '50s with Ike Quebec (for whom he made his recording debut), Big Nick Nicholas, and a variety of R&B-ish groups. Waldron frequently worked with Charles Mingus from 1954-1956 and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist during her last two years (1957-1959). Often hired by Prestige to supervise recording sessions, Waldron contributed many originals (including "Soul Eyes," which became a standard) and basic arrangements that prevented spontaneous dates from becoming overly loose jam sessions. He has mostly led his own groups since Holiday's death, although he was part of the Eric Dolphy-Booker Little Quintet that was recorded extensively at the Five Spot in 1961, and also worked with Abbey Lincoln for a time during the era. He wrote three film scores (The Cool World, Three Bedrooms in Manhattan, and Sweet Love Bitter) before moving permanently to Europe in 1965, settling in Munich in 1967. Waldron, who has occasionally returned to the U.S. for visits, has long been a major force in the European jazz world. His album Free at Last was the first released by ECM, and his Black Glory was the fourth Enja album. Waldron, who frequently teamed up with Steve Lacy (often as a duet), kept quite busy up through the '90s, featuring a style that evolved but was certainly traceable to his earliest record dates. Among the many labels that have documented his music have been Prestige, New Jazz, Bethlehem, Impulse, Musica, Affinity, ECM, Futura, Nippon Phonogram, Enja, Freedom, Black Lion, Horo, Teichiku, Hat Art, Palo Alto, Eastwind, Baybridge, Paddle Wheel, Muse, Free Lance, Soul Note, Plainisphere, and Timeless. In September of 2002, Waldron was diagnosed with cancer. Remaining optimistic, he continued to tour until he passed away on December 2 in Brussels, Belgium at the age of 76. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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