Pim

Well it was a matter of time of course, especially because both my wife and I are teachers. My wife got tested today and the result was positive. She got COVID. Only mild symptoms up till now fortunately. I’m pretty sure I will be contaminated as well as well.... she is my wife and we kissed and stuff... I will test myself tomorrow to be sure. I’m 30 years old and I workout 5 days a week: I am a fanatic CrossFit ‘athlethe’. But all of that doesn’t mean a thing of course. I think I will have enough time for my blog the coming days

Haven’t seen this extreme prices yet. Have recently sold an LP to someone in the UK. Always used DHL which cost around 10 euros. Prices increased to 35 euros now, ridiculous! Used PostNL instead who have raised their prices from 12 euros to 17.50. Also way to high but better than DHL.

Haha believe it or not: my father doesn’t own a single album by him. In fact I don’t think he even knows who he is. He is a real jazz fan but his collection was always pretty limited. I think he has about 150 jazz cd’s but he spinned them from my birth until I left the house on a daily base. I am pretty sure I could easily drop every artist name from his collection. To give an idea: Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Coleman Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, Michel Petrucciani, Modern Jazz Quartet, Oscar Peterson, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz. Something like that. There’s not even a single Blue Note record! It’s not that he doesn’t like it, he just never really got in touch with it. Its funny to see how big that influence could be on your own musical taste. Some of his albums are still among my favorites while they are not necessarily counted among the artists milestones. Like The Genius of Coleman Hawkins, god I love that record. I’m also still a huge Oscar Peterson fan while I am aware he isn’t the most popular on places like this board. It really is the sound of my youth. From that musical fundament I started exploring the world of jazz from the age of 15. I remember playing John Coltrane’s Giant Steps endlessly during boring French lessons on my IPod Shuffle that was my dads only Coltrane recording.

Not really mixtapes but more mix cd-r's: my father burned met two cd's called Jazz voor Pim vol.1 en vol. 2. It mostly was a mix of his jazz collection with stuff by Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. I was around 8 years old then. Have listened to them lots of time in those years and those cd's definitely got me more into jazz.

Rip Freddie Redd

Thanks guys!

Well guys, yesterday I interviewed David Friesen in a 1.5 hour long Zoom meeting. It was absolutely great. Very friendly guy with a great sense of humor. And still very active! The results are on my blog now. I am nog musical journalist of course but I tried my best. I hope you enjoy reading! How David Friesen remembers Mal Waldron

Please let me know how you feel about it! have to say I also ‘struggle’ with Irene Aebis contributions on some of my Lacy recordings.

Sunday again, and another week full of Mal has passed by! And it was one very good week with some very good records (and also some less interesting of course). It was a hell of a start with one of my all time favorite records by Mal: The Super Quartet Live at Sweet Basil really is an all star date with Steve Lacy, Reggie Workman and Eddie Moore. Though the music is widely avaible and the big names it seems pretty unknown surfing websites like RYM and AMG. Anyway, it's a killer live date: Lacy plays some very, very intense solo's, Reggie Workman is in prime form, Moore delivers solid backing and Mal is just kicking ass! The chemistry and interplay is on an incredibly high level and the guys just swing very hard. If you haven't got it yet: get it as fast as you can . Mal, Dance & Soul was the album on tuesday. Great trio music and lovely duets with the underrated Jim Pepper. Also a milestone for the fact that it was Mal's first appearance on TUTU records. Fortunately more were to come on that German label and to be honest: I could recommend all of them. Really, a 'Complete TUTU records' would not be a very bad decision. Mosaic would probably not be interested and ENJA doesn't do a lot of boxed sets so chances are nihil of course but just let me fantasize. Preferably with some unreleased sessions! Also on TUTU this week is Mal's duet albums with Jim Pepper: Art of the Duo. Piano sax duets with Mal are always a treat and this is no exception. Some lovely interprations of Monk and a surprisingly beautiful version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' where Jim Pepper takes the solo spot. The Lausanne Concert with Swiss pianist René Bottlang is definitely intersting to hear as he is another pianist playing in a very different style than let's say Yosuke Yamashita or Tchangodei. He's a little more classical oriented with slight hints of Keith Jarrett. But I have to say that after 20 minutes it loses my attention. Same goes a little for his solo work for Canadian label Dark Music LTD.: Evidence. Especially the standards are a little too straightforward to make a lasting impression. Not bad but Mal made better solo recordings. It took me a while to obtain a copy. And there was also another encounter with another Italian singer: Flakes with nobody less than Steve Lacy and Enrico Rava. But I really hate it to be honest. I just can't stand her voice and the lack of space for the other musicians is dissapointing. But I am very curious how others experience a record like that. It could of course all be me. Fortunately the closing record of this week is nothing less than a statement of pure beauty: No More Tears (For Lady Day) is one of Mal's best trio records. The playing is very accesible and at ease but it's just really that every note played here is exactly what you want to hear. It's full of soul and feeling and one of the prime examples of how a musician could say so much with such few notes. Highly recommended, especially for those who don't like Mal's more free recordings. Again guys, have a great weekend. Thanks all for reading. I am somewhere between 50 and 100 readers a day and that really makes me proud. All the kind words keep me going and of course listening to Mal's music is never a punishment. Tomorrow is my interview with David Friesen. I feel like a teenager having a meet and greet with Justin Bieber... https://snake-out.blogspot.com/ https://snake-out.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-reviews-in-chronological-order.html https://snake-out.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-reviews-by-rating.html

It’s delayed again....

Some of the ‘older’ cds I bought recently are definitely not CD-R’s. Must depend on if they are still in print or not?

Yeah Multikulti Project is great. I love the two Hera discs! from Romania: 7 dreams. both of course not former soviet states but does the Warsaw Pact count as well?

And there goes another week. The '80's were really a very versatile decade for Mal. All kinds of collaborations, formats and styles. Were getting closer to a new decade but there are still plenty of records to go. This week started with the second half (or was it the first?) of the legendary Vanguard concert: The Git Go is really almost as good as the Seagulls record, maybe equally as good but I always preferred Seagulls a tiny bit. But the title song really kicks ass with Reggie Workman showing off what a hell of a bassist he was. And the version of Status Seeking is probably even better than the original. Both Rouse as Shaw are really on fire and the whole band swings hard! Some more live records with another great band: Eric Dolphy & Booker Little Remembered Live at Sweet Basil. The original rhythm section with two relatively new young talents (back then of course): Donald Harrison and Terence Blanchard. It's great music but doesn't meet up to the original records. I'm mostly impressed by Harrison. Blanchard has always sounded a little to 'schooled' for me. Excellent player but I miss a little character here and there. Enjoyable but not essential. Same goes a little for Our Collines a Treasure which really is a nice recording but Mal has definitely made more interesting trio sessions. It's a pretty straighahead jam session where non of the band members really takes some space to stretch out. The record is rated pretty highly on the web so maybe it's me and everybody should definitely give it a spin and judge for themselves. More interesting to me are the sessions with the highly underrated and pretty obscure French pianist Tchangodei. Tchangodei was born in Benin and has worked not only with Mal but also with Archie Shepp, Kent Carter and Steve Lacy. He has this highly percussive piano style that is both bluesy and afrocentric at the same time. Creative and very interesting pianist to listen to. Three for Freedom is my favorite. A piano duo with the great Archie Shepp on tenor. Shepp sounds very inspired on this date: something that I sometimes missed on his '80's records. The music is bluesy, raw, original, free and very fresh to hear. Highly recommended. The duo record Les Venins D'Afrique is probably even more obscure. It's one of Mal's more interesting piano duets: a 45 minute long journey trough jazz land: there's blues, there's bop, there's African traditional music and there's also some free improvisation. This weekend there was the jam session on Soul Note: Remembering the Moment. With names like Julian Priester, Jim Pepper and Eddie Moore it does not always meet up to ones expactations as it really just is nothing more than a jam session. With some rehearsals and fresh compositions it could have been more interesting. Nevertheless it is a very good jam session. All of the guys swing hard and their joy in playing is hearable all trough the record. Nice one! Last record for this week is Both Sides Now, a solo record that took me quite a while to obtain. It's focussing mainly on Mal's more classical oriented side with some classical compositions. Mal jazzes them up a little. I really like it but I don't know how die hard classical music fans would feel about them. I do think Mal always really respected the tradition they were written in and his sound really fits with stuff by Chopin for example. Thanks again for reading and commenting guys and have a great weekend. https://snake-out.blogspot.com https://snake-out.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-reviews-in-chronological-order.html https://snake-out.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-reviews-by-rating.html Small update on the other project: I will have an online ZOOM interview with David Friesen on Monday the 15th! I will publish that in the same week on the Sunday. A week after that a phone interview with the excellent saxophonist Nicolas Simion which I will keep for the 1994-1998 period when Simion was in Mal's quartet. British saxophonist George Haslam has already written down some notes so I am trying to make it a coherent story now. I am also in contact with Reggie Workman and his wife but they have not replied to my last email yet. I also asked them for an email address of Andrew Cyrille. That would be another interesting story to tell!

Starting with some Then some: And last but not least: That is some very ugly cover art! But the music is great nevertheless.

Then I was probably wrongly informed. I hope so for I could use another 4 of these discs. I am really amazed by the constant quality of these series.

Just wanted to post this too. Yeah this looks good. Dark Tree mostly ships free within Europe and maybe even outside of it trough Discogs. Excellent service.

Well David Friesen just replied that he is willing to do a phone interview with me! I can’t believe it. Same goes now for Romanian tenor saxophonist Nicolas Simion. He joined Mal on his last recordings for TUTU. He is also willing to do an interview by phone or email! So now I have some time to prepare a good set of questions. But of course I am no professional interviewer so if you guys have any suggestions for questions or just stuff you would like to know from David or Nicolas (in relation with his connection to Mal) just let me know! Do not hesitate to post them here.

I would love to have hear that: Mal and Sonny together! Mal second wife was called Hiromi. They met and married somewhere in the early ‘80’s. That’s all I know. No pictures to be found on the internet. She and Mal got three more children together.

Thank you so much for those flattering words guys that really puts a smile on my face! In the meanwhile Maya Workman has responded to my email and says she will ask Reggie Workman to consider writing a piece for the blog... I can’t believe I even got a reply. Of course Mr. Workman hasn’t even replied yet but please let me keep on dreaming

Are you sure? In my last contact with NoBuisness they said it would be 6 releases.

The recent Pure Pleasure reissue that sounds very good! Great record by Bonner (my favorite). Probably his most creative outing with a great band and even some strings. But it's mostly his fluent and gentle piano playing that really does it. Great music, ugly artwork....

Vol.2 is now spinning and it's another very good record. I really love this series and can't wait for the last two to be released.

Inspired by Tom's words I try to contact more people affiliated with him for personal stories about Mal. Up till now I tried to contact: - Arjen Gorter - Reggie Workman - David Friesen - Peter Wiesmueller - George Haslam - Nicolas Simion - Mala Waldron Maybe no one is interested in writing something down for a blog by some 30 year old Dutch Mal freak but you never know If people here on the board have contacts with people who had a personal affiliation with Mal: it would be so great if you could help me out! @Chuck Nessa from earlier messages on the board I understand you did meet Mal a few times but had no personal connection to him did you mr. Nessa? Otherwise of course feel free to tell us your stories

2 months running now but not even halfway there! This really is a journey and I am enjoying every bit of it. This week is a very interesting one for some of the classics that pass by and also the personal memories by Belgian filmmaker and musician Tom van Overberghe. The week starts of with the fascinating duet with alto player Marion Brown: Songs of Love and Regret was the first and also my favorite one of their two duets. It's really Marion Brown in it's most soft and subdued way. Truly a piece of beauty and another fascinating duet form with Mal. Just listen to their version of 'A Flower is a Lonesome Thing'... Dedication was Mal's last duet he recorded with bassist David Friesen. Though not essential, it's an highly enjoyable encounter and it was also Mal's first release on Soul Note. Also enjoyable and another interesting direction in his music is the album Space, where Mal collaborates with two French Musicians: Doudou Gouirand and Michel Marre. A trio without a rhythm section the music is somewhere in between more contemporary jazz and more free improvisation. But the music is highly accessible for both Marre's and Gouirands sweet sounds. This was their first of two records. Then up come the classics for this week: Sempre Amore with Steve Lacy.... I'll admit these two guys could hardly do anything wrong with me but this is another astonishing piece of music. A first studio encounter by this duo they stick to compositions written by Duke Ellington and/or Billy Strayhorn this time. The music is creative, original, fresh and sometimes tearjerking beatiful. Probably their most accessible record as well. There's also the solo record on Soul Note: Update. I would dare to say that it is his best solo record in the studios. It contains one of Mal's beautiful tributes in it's first appearance on record: Free for C.T. (Cecil Taylor) which is an incridible journey trough all kinds of piano styles. Also the standards played here are all played in a very original kind of way. The second reunion with Jackie McLean called Left Alone '86 is a bit like their first in 1976: it's a good record but nothing very special. And I keep having the feeling that they had more potential together than just playing a few standards together. Closing off this week with one of Mal's best known and highly rated records: The Seagulls of Kristiansund. And yes that record is just freakin great and really still one of my favorites. What a band: Woody Shaw, Charlie Rouse, Reggie Workman, Ed Blackwell and Mal himself. The chemistry is there for a full 50 minutes long and every one of them is at the top of their capabilities. Mind-blowing and essential music. But the real treat this week is the personal retrospect by Tom van Overberghe. I asked him if he wanted to contribute to my blog and fortunately he did! This Belgian filmmaker and musician was the son of freejazz saxophonist Cel van Overberghe and the nephew of nobody less than Fred van Hove. It was Tom who made the excellent Mal Waldron documentary 'A Portrait of Mal Waldron' which is on YouTube these days. He was pretty close to Mal and his family in the last 7 years of Mal's life. In his piece he looks back on his period with Mal but also on his own development as a human being, musician and professional filmmaker. And don't forget to watch his documentary. It's lovely with appearances by Max Roach, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille, Steve Lacy and Jeanne Lee. Hope you guys enjoy reading again. https://snake-out.blogspot.com https://snake-out.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-reviews-in-chronological-order.html https://snake-out.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-reviews-by-rating.html

All of these Louis Hayes Muse sessions are so freakin' good. This is another great one but probably my least favorite. The Real Thing and Ichi Ban are even better. But this one is very good too. And a good oppurtunity to hear Charles Davis in a prominent role (on baritone sax!)