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Mal Waldron
Born in New York City, Waldron's jazz work was chiefly in the hard bop, post-bop and free jazz genres. He is known for his distinctive chord voicings and adaptable style, which was originally inspired by the playing of Thelonious Monk.
After obtaining a B.A. in music from Queen's College, New York, he worked in New York City in the early 1950s with Ike Quebec, "Big" Nick Nicholas, and rhythm and blues groups. He worked frequently with Charles Mingus from 1954 to 1956 and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist from 1957 until her death in 1959. He also supervised recording sessions for Prestige Records, for which he provided arrangements and compositions (including the jazz standard "Soul Eyes"). After Holiday's death he chiefly led his own groups.
Waldron had a unique playing style. He played chords in a lower bass part of the keyboard, and is comparable to Bud Powell in his dissonant voices. His solo style is in noted contrast to players like Red Garland.
He was frequently recorded, both as a leader and sideman, with, among others, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Booker Little, Steve Lacy, Jackie McLean and Archie Shepp.
Besides performing he composed for films (The Cool World, Three Bedrooms In Manhattan and Sweet Love Bitter), theatre, and ballet. In 1963 he had a major nervous breakdown, and had to re-learn his skills, apparently by listening to his own records. Waldron's playing style re- emerged more brooding, starker and percussive, combining bebop and avant-garde melodies, and at times weaving repetitive melodic motifs using just a few notes over a drone like accompaniment figure. After working on a film score in Europe he moved there permanently in 1965 initially living in Munich, Germany and in his last years he was based in Brussels, Belgium. On the principle that working at local venues reduced his fee, he avoided playing in the city in which he lived. He regularly returned to the United States for bookings.
Through the 1980s and 1990s he worked in various settings with Steve Lacy, notably in soprano-piano duets playing their own compositions as well as Monk's.
After some years of indifferent health, though continuing to perform, Waldron died in December 2002 in Brussels, Belgium.
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Eric Dolphy: At Five Spot to Iron Man Revisited
by Alberto Bazzurro
Riunire in un unico CD di quasi ottanta minuti due capolavori cosa determina? Un capolavoro al quadrato, ovviamente, ed è quanto avviene in questo album semplicemente maestoso, i cui primi tre brani riprendono il live inciso al Five Spot il 16 luglio 1961 dal quintetto da favola riunito per l'occasione da Eric Dolphy, all'epoca trentatreenne, il cui nome iniziava finalmente a circolare con una certa insistenza nel mondo del jazz anche al di là dei colleghi che già ne conoscevano ...
read moreMal Waldron / Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors
by Karl Ackermann
Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy first played together in 1958 at the Bowery neighborhood's Five Spot. Their association was long, if not necessarily prolific on record. Though their personal styles contrasted, they frequently existed in a parallel universe. Both expatriates lived in Paris, were predisposed to the avant-garde, and shared a deep appreciation for Thelonious Monk's music. They performed and recorded until 2002 when Waldron died. Barcelona-based Elemental Music Records acquired the previously unreleased recordings of Lacy and Waldron from ...
read moreMal Waldron - Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors
by Dan McClenaghan
Producer/jazz detective Zev Feldman is still at it, ferreting out unreleased recordings from jazz giants of the past and releasing them with buffed-up sound quality and first-rate packaging. Long lost recordings from pianists Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum and Ahmad Jamal have seen the light of the twenty-first century, thanks to Feldman, as has newly discovered music from trumpeter Chet Baker. Now it is pianist Mal Waldron (1925 -2002) and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's (1934 -2004) turn, with The ...
read moreMal Waldron, Aymée Nuviola, Immanuel Wilkins, Grover Washington, Jr.
by David Brown
This week, a soulful set with Washington, McCann and Spalding. Then some Monk by Monk and Lacy/Waldron followed by a short set of Immanuel Wilkins old and new. We will also check out recent releases by Mat Maneri Quartet and Miho Hazama, and more. Old, new, in, out... wherever the music takes us. Each week, we will explore the elements of jazz from a historical perspective. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) ...
read moreMal Waldron: Free At Last
by Karl Ackermann
The sensitivity reflected in much of Mal Waldron's music was a deep aspect of his psyche. The Harlem-born pianist, who died in Brussels, Belgium, in 2002, worked downtown with saxophonist Ike Quebec at Café Society in the early 1950s and went on to record on several Charles Mingus recordings including Pithecanthropus Erectus (Atlantic), Jazz Composers Workshop (Savoy Records), and Mingus At The Bohemia (Debut Records), all released in 1956. Waldron was not at home with Mingus' style of composing and ...
read moreMal Waldron: One More Time
by Mike Neely
One More Time is an intimate portrait of two neglected masters with a third master, Steve Lacy, stepping in to add his low-key tip of the hat. Mal Waldron and Jean-Jacques Avenel are the focus of this release that serves as a tribute to Waldron, one of jazz's most versatile pianists who died in 2002. The highlights of Waldron's career are striking by any standard. Many of his recordings with Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Eric Dolphy, and Steve ...
read moreMal Waldron/Steve Lacy: Live At Dreher Paris 1981
by Mark Corroto
The digital age with its bits and bytes has allowed for huge musical projects and reissue bonanzas. We have come from Louis Armstrong playing two minute classics cut into cylinders to today’s complete recordings of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson sessions, expanded from double LPs to four and five CDs of raw material.
Like Keith Jarrett’s recent live six-disc Blue Note set, the sprawling Live At Dreher, Paris 1981 is a large scale recording documenting a performance by ...
read moreMal Waldron - Winner, Best Previously Unreleased Album, Académie Du Jazz
Source:
Tompkins Square
The Académie du Jazz is the oldest and most respected jazz institution in France, created in 1954. Their electoral college is made up of 60 independent journalists, photographers, writers, radio presenters, club owners and festival organizers. They give out awards in 11 categories, and Tompkins Square's Mal Waldron set, Searching in Grenoble : The 1978 Solo Piano Concert WON Best Previously Unreleased Album. March 23rd marks the 45th anniversary of this recording. Praise for Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo ...
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Mal Waldron: 'Searching in Grenoble' 1978
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Struggling to record The End of a Love Affair on February 20, 1958, Billie Holiday abruptly ended a take for her album Lady in Satin with resigned frustration. “No good. I don't know it. Mal, please try to play... as loud as you can. I don't know the tune." Mal was Mal Waldron, her accompanying pianist. Holiday was in the studio booth with headphones on and couldn't hear her pianist clearly enough as a melody guide over the live strings ...
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Mal Waldron - Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert
Source:
Tompkins Square
Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert is a previously unissued recording of jazz icon Mal Waldron's mesmerizing performance at the “Five Days of Jazz" series in Grenoble, France on March 23, 1978. Waldron was Billie Holiday’s final accompanist, played on classic sessions with John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Jackie McLean among others, and recorded dozens of solo albums as a leader before his passing in 2002. Originally produced by the legendary André Francís and transferred from the original ...
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Mal Waldron Quintet - The Git Go-Live at the Village Vanguard
Source:
Music and More by Tim Niland
Pianist and composer Mal Waldron is something of an unsung hero in jazz, despite a lengthy career that featured him doing everything from recording with John Coltrane and Billie Holiday in the 1950's to recording duets with the likes of Archie Shepp and David Murray in the early 2000's just prior to his passing. In between, Maldron was a dependable journeyman, making a lot of records from many labels, like this set, which was recorded at the venerable Village Vanguard ...
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Duo Session from Saxophonist David Murray & Pianist Mal Waldron
Source:
All About Jazz
On June 24, 2008 Justin Time will release “Silence," a long-awaited duo session from saxophonist David Murray & pianist Mal Waldron. Reedman/composer David Murray's astonishing career has been marked by his proclivity for embracing unusual thematic concepts, musical combinations and collaborative efforts in his prolific creative pursuits. Collaboration is the key to Silence, his latest release on Justin Time Records, and his eleventh recording as leader for the label. Here he's in the company of the legendary pianist/composer Mal Waldron, ...
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Mal Waldron: Expatriate Piano Great Dies in Brussels
Source:
All About Jazz
Mal Waldron made his mark as a sympathetic accompanist for Billie Holiday in the last years of her career in 1957-9. The pianist went on to forge a reputation as an uncompromising creative musician in his own right, initially in his native New York and later in Europe, where he lived from 1965, firstly in Paris, and later in Munich and Brussels. He was a prolific composer in several genres as well as a pianist. His ...
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Mal Waldron Dies 77
Source:
All About Jazz
Born: August 16, 1925 in New York City, New York Died: December 2, 2002 in Brussels, Belgium
Pianist Mal Waldron has died after short illness. His agent in Belgium issued the following statement:
Dear friends,
With great sadness I have to inform you of the passing of Mal Waldron, this December 2 at 9:15 pm local time in Brussels, Belgium. He slipped away, quietly and without pain, after a very brief illness.
Any messages for Mal's family are ...
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Fire Waltz
From: Searching in Grenoble: The 1978...By Mal Waldron
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Mal Waldron
Instrument: Piano
Born: August 16, 1925
Died: December 2, 2002
