Mal Waldron

[Late]

I've liked Mal Waldron ever since I first heard him 23 years ago on Coltrane's debut album for Prestige. His discography seems fairly large, and with a lot of it obscure and out-of-print.

List your favorites and/or share any Mal stories you have! What were his live performances like?

I have about a dozen Waldron CDs, and I have a feeling there's a lot I haven't heard.

Who's on this one?

[Larry Kart]

I remember hearing Waldron accompanying Sonny Stitt in Chicago at the Jazz Showcase in the late 1970s or early '80s, when it was located under the Happy Medium on Rush St. and known as the Jazz Medium, I think. Mal's compositional thinking as an accompanist led to some of the best Stitt I'd ever heard. Between sets I said something of the sort to Waldron and expressed the wish that he would come back from Europe more often. His response was quietly [edit: I meant to say "sincerely"] appreciative -- a nice moment I felt.

[Chuck Nessa]

Mal was a warm person. I worked with him a couple of times. I'll never forget his set at the Chicago festival with Steve Lacy. I hope Lazaro drops in and speaks of his exchanges with Mal.

[Afric Pepperbird]

Who's on this one?

It would appear George Tucker and Al Dreares

[clifford_thornton]

Rare as hen's teeth, too.

I love Mal's music. Busy with other stuff right now but hope to chime in later.

[kh1958]

I saw him live twice--in a trio at the Village Vanguard with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille. That was a hypnotic experience for two sets--fantastic music. That was around 1992 or 1993--smoking was still allowed at the Vanguard and Mal smoked like a fiend throughout the entire set. The second time was at Sweet Basil--a completely different experience, I don't know what was wrong, it was a quintet with Ricky Ford and (I think) Chico Freeman--the music was not working, the saxophonists were overbearing--Mal was in the background for the most part, I didn't like the group and left after one set.

[John L]

Mal only needed a handful of notes to make magnificent music - a rare talent, for sure. I really miss him.

[brownie]

The first time I heard Mal Waldron live remains a pretty bad experience. This was at the November 1958 at the Olympia theater in Paris when he was accompanying a rather intoxicated Billie Holiday. Billie had problems finishing some of her songs and it took Mal's patience and professionalism to carry her through the end of her concert.

I was already a fan of Waldron at the time (through his presence on so many great Prestige albums).

Caught him live on several occasions later.

I wish I had been able to hear him with Jackie McLean. The albums they recorded together are some of their very best!

[A Lark Ascending]

Very fond of Waldron - nice and understated.

This one is a dream. It also has my favourite Charlie Rouse playing:

I saw Mal Waldron with Steve Lacy not long before his death in Brecon. Magical concert.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I think the only Mal Walrdon recordings I have are the ones he made with Gene Ammons - but I have quite a few of them. My favourites among them are the tracks he recorded on 5 Sept 1962, which were released on Jug's albums "Angel eyes", "Velet soul" and "Sock", which have never been issued as an album all together. I've burned them all to a CDR and they sound really nice all together.

MG

[flat5]

Hello, The Magnificent Goldberg,

You don't have the Five Spot recordings with Dolphy and Little?

[Dave James]

As a sideman, don't overlook his contributions to Webster Young's For Lady. That's an all-around good outing.

Any comments on Waldron's Plays Eric Satie? I've had my eye on that one for awhile. It shows up on eBay quite regularly.

[Dave James]

Very fond of Waldron - nice and understated.

This one is a dream. It also has my favourite Charlie Rouse playing:

I saw Mal Waldron with Steve Lacy not long before his death in Brecon. Magical concert.

Bev,

This set is available on iTunes, but it looks like there's a companion piece featuring the same band at the same venue. There are three tunes on the Waldron Quintet album you've pictured; Snake Out, Judy and Seagulls of Kristiansund, and two on the other one, Status Seeking and Git Go . The second album is called The Git Go - Live at the Village Vanguard.. Any idea what's up with that?

[A Lark Ascending]

Very fond of Waldron - nice and understated.

This one is a dream. It also has my favourite Charlie Rouse playing:

I saw Mal Waldron with Steve Lacy not long before his death in Brecon. Magical concert.

Bev,

This set is available on iTunes, but it looks like there's a companion piece featuring the same band at the same venue. There are three tunes on the Waldron Quintet album you've pictured; Snake Out, Judy and Seagulls of Kristiansund, and two on the other one, Status Seeking and Git Go . The second album is called The Git Go - Live at the Village Vanguard.. Any idea what's up with that?

It's music from the same engagement. I prefer Seagulls but the other is great too.

The tracky 'Seagulls...' is wonderfully peaceful!

Mal Waldron - The Git-Go: Live At The Village Vanguard (Soul Note (It) SN 1118)

Woody Shaw (tp) Charlie Rouse (ts, fl) Mal Waldron (p) Reggie Workman (b) Ed Blackwell (d)

"Village Vanguard", NYC, September 16, 1986

Status Seeking

The Git Go

** also issued on Soul Note (It) 121118-2.

Mal Waldron - The Seagulls Of Kristiansund (Soul Note (It) SN 1148)

Woody Shaw (tp) Charlie Rouse (ts, fl) Mal Waldron (p) Reggie Workman (b) Ed Blackwell (d): same session

"Village Vanguard", NYC, September 16, 1986

Snake Out

Judy

The Seagulls Of Kristiansund

** also issued on Soul Note (It) 121148-2.

From:

http://www.jazzdisco.org/mal-waldron/catalog/

Edited February 6, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[Peter Friedman]

I particularly like these 2 early Mal Waldron Prestige sessions.

Mal-1 a quintet date with Idrees Sulieman , Gigi Gryce, Julian Euell & Arthur Edgehill

Mal-4 a trio recording with Addison Farmer and Kenny Dennis

[Guy Berger]

The Seagulls of Kristiansund is a fantastic album - highly recommended. I recently picked up Git Go from Soul Note but have not listened to it yet.

Be sure to check out his duos with Steve Lacy as well.

[Late]

I wish I had been able to hear him with Jackie McLean. The albums they recorded together are some of their very best!

Agreed. Mal seems to have had a way of elevating the performance(s) of certain horn players.

Mal-4 and Impressions are two of my favorite early Mal records. I also like his work on Enja, which seems vastly under-appreciated.

Get Seagulls for $2.67 here, and Git-Go for $1.78 here. Very much worth it, for those prices.

Has anyone here heard Waldron's Spanish Bitch? I'd really like to hear that session.

[Д.Д.]

I think Waldron is best in duos - he really tends to bring out the best in his partners in such a setting.

In addition to numerous duos with Lacy, I would recommend:

 

"Songs of Love and Regret" with Marion Brown

"After Hours" with Jeanne Lee

"Left Alone '86" with Jackie McLean

"Left Alone Revisited" with Archie Shepp (Waldron's last, I think)

 

and conditionally,

 

"One More Time" with Jean-Jacques Avenel (Avenel overplays a bit, but Waldron's solo "All Alone" is phenomenal, and there are a couple of wonderful tracks with Lacy).

Edited May 10, 2021 by Д.Д.

[A Lark Ascending]

This is a lovely disc from the latter end of his life. From earlier didcussions I believe it was a European release with limited availability in the states.

Steve Coleman (as -1,2) Joe Henderson (ts -9) Mal Waldron (p) Reggie Workman (b) Andrew Cyrille (d) Jeanne Lee (vo -2,3,10) Abbey Lincoln (vo -5,7)

"At The Groove", Schelle, Belgium, August 15-17, 1997

1. Judy BMG 74321 53887-2

2. Soul Eyes -

3. Fire Waltz -

4. Spaces -

5. Straigh Ahead -

6. From Darkness Into Light -

7. God Bless The Child -

8. Dee's Dilemma -

9. The Git Go -

10. No More Tears -

[AndrewHill]

I think Waldron is best in duos - he really tends to bring out the best in his partners in such a setting.

In addition to numerous duos with Lacy, I would recommend:

"Songs of Love and Regret" with Marion Brown

"After Hours" with Jeanne Lee

"Left Alone '86" with Jackie McLean

"Left Alone Revisited" with Archie Shepp (Waldron's last, I think)

and conditionally,

"All Alone" with Jean-Jacques Avenel (Avenel overplays a bit, but Waldron's solo "All Alone" is phenomenal, and there are a couple of wonderful tracks with Lacy).

Agree. Along with "Songs of Love and Regret", I also like "Much More!" as well.

Don't know if its been mentioned, but "Free at Last" is another worthwhile date along with "On Steinway" a splendid solo disk that was recorded in the early 70's I think. Another thumbs up for Mal-1, etc on Prestige along with the countless sideman appearances, esp. the Five Spot material with Dolphy.

[bertrand]

A Waldron bio is in the works.

Bertrand.

[Steve Reynolds]

the great Waldron discs from The Utopia with Jim Pepper from 1986

plus the phenomenal recording Mal, Verve, Black & Blue with Nicolas Simion on tenor from 1993 or so

amazing that these recordings are rarely mentioned

[brownie]

This is a lovely disc from the latter end of his life. From earlier didcussions I believe it was a European release with limited availability in the states.

Steve Coleman (as -1,2) Joe Henderson (ts -9) Mal Waldron (p) Reggie Workman (b) Andrew Cyrille (d) Jeanne Lee (vo -2,3,10) Abbey Lincoln (vo -5,7)

"At The Groove", Schelle, Belgium, August 15-17, 1997

1. Judy BMG 74321 53887-2

2. Soul Eyes -

3. Fire Waltz -

4. Spaces -

5. Straigh Ahead -

6. From Darkness Into Light -

7. God Bless The Child -

8. Dee's Dilemma -

9. The Git Go -

10. No More Tears -

Distribution throughout Europe of this superb disc was very erratic. It's very hard to get a copy of it nowadays.

Whenever I have run into a copy lately, I bought it and sent it to friends.

[Dave James]

Get Seagulls for $2.67 here, and Git-Go for $1.78 here. Very much worth it, for those prices.

Late,

Thanks for the tip. I was all ready to drop iTunes prices on these two. Makes you wish Amazon would play hardball with Apple and start charging $.75 (or less) a tune and an equivalently lower per album price. They just did went to "war" with Walmart over book pricing, so it's not like it's out of the question.

[.:.impossible]

I have a DVD of this quintet from Unicorn Video. I cannot remember where I got it but it is as hypnotic as you would expect.

Live at the Village Vanguard Volume 4 Mal Waldron Quintet

Git Go 21:05

Ali Alone (sic) 17:35

Firewaltz (sic) 19:18

Left Alone 4:55

You can tell from the track listing that not much care was taken with the packaging. The footage, though, is fantastic.