Mal Waldron

Mal Waldron
Mal Waldron in 1987
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm Earl Waldron
Born	August 16, 1925
Origin	New York City
Died	December 2, 2002 (age 77)
Genres	Modal jazz Avant-garde jazz Hard bop Post bop
Occupations	Pianist
Instruments	Piano
Labels	Enja Records, Prestige Records
Associated acts	Mal Waldron Quintet Mal Waldron Trio Jeanne Lee Steve Lacy

Malcolm Earl Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002)^[1] was an American jazz and world music pianist and composer, born in New York City.

Like his contemporaries, Waldron's roots lie chiefly in the hard bop and post-bop genres of the New York club scene of the 1950s; but with time, he gravitated more towards free jazz and composition. He is known for his dissonant chord voicings and distinctive playing style, which was originally inspired by Thelonious Monk.

Biography

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 of which arguably his most famous, "Soul Eyes", became a widely recorded jazz standard. After Holiday's death he chiefly led his own groups.

Waldron had a unique yet instantly recognizable playing style. He finessed thick and rich chords in the lower bass register; although sometimes compared to Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk for his dissonant voicing, his emphasis on weight, texture and frequent repetition of a single and simple motif as opposed to linear and melodic improvisation gave a heavy and melancholic color to his sound. Considered somewhat of an avant-gardist, his solo style - which often produced more of a wall of sound than a line of melody - was in stark contrast to more traditional and technical players of his time. Waldron became something of an unsung legend for his uncanny ability to play very slow, deep and even disturbing ballads bordering on sorrow, while himself sitting perfectly motionless, stoic and stolid at the piano, his face devoid of all emotion.

Besides performing, he composed for films (The Cool World, Three Rooms in Manhattan and Sweet Love, Bitter), theater, 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. He performed and recorded extensively throughout Europe and Japan in his later decades, regularly returning to the United States for bookings. His 1969 album, Free At Last, was the first ever release on the ECM label. In 1973, he collaborated with the German avant-rock band Embryo on an album of four somber, laid-back instrumentals titled Rocksession (released on the German label Brain Metronome records).

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, Waldron was diagnosed with cancer in 2002. He continued to perform until his death in December 2002 in Brussels, Belgium.

Discography

As leader

• Mal-1 (Prestige, 1956)
• Mal/2 (Prestige, 1957)
• The Dealers (Status, 1957)
• Mal/3: Sounds (New Jazz, 1958)
• Mal/4: Trio (New Jazz, 1958)
• Left Alone (Bethlehem, 1959)
• Impressions (New Jazz, 1959)
• The Quest - with Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin (New Jazz, 1961)
• Sweet Love, Bitter (Impulse!, 1967)
• Ursula (Musica, 1969)
• Set Me Free (Affinity, 1969)
• Free at Last (ECM (Japan), 1969)
• Tokyo Bound (RCA Victor (Japan), 1970)
• Tokyo Reverie (RCA Victor (Japan), 1970)
• Blood and Guts (Futura, 1970)
• Spanish Bitch (ECM (Japan), 1970)
• The Opening - (Futura, 1970)
• The Call (JAPO, 1971)
• Mal: Live 4 to 1 (Philips (Japan), 1971)
• First Encounter with Gary Peacock (RCA Victor (Japan), 1971)
• Number Nineteen (Freedom, 1971)
• Black Glory (Enja, 1971)
• Mal Waldron Plays the Blues (Enja, 1971)
• Signals (Freedom, 1971)
• Journey Without End with Steve Lacy (RCA Victor (Japan), 1971)
• Blues for Lady Day (Black Lion, 1972)
• A Little Bit of Miles (Freedom, 1972)
• Jazz a Confronto 19 (Horo, 1972)
• A Touch of the Blues (Enja, 1972)
• Mal Waldron on Steinway (Teichiku, 1972)
• Mal Waldron with the Steve Lacy Quintet with Steve Lacy (America (France), 1972)
• The Whirling Dervish (America (France), 1972)
• Meditations (RCA Victor (Japan), 1972)
• Up Popped the Devil with Reggie Workman and Billy Higgins (Enja, 1973)
• Hard Talk with Steve Lacy (Enja, 1974)
• Like Old Time with Jackie McLean (RCA Victor (Japan), 1976)
• One-Upmanship with Steve Lacy (Enja, 1977)
• Moods (Enja, 1978)
• Mingus Lives (Enja, 1979)
• Mal 81 (Progressive, 1981)
• News: Run About Mal (Progressive, 1981)
• Snake Out (Hathut, 1981 released 1982)
• Herbe L'oubli (Hathut, 1981 released 1983)
• Lets Call This (Hathut, 1981 released 1986)
• Live at Dreher, Paris 1981 with Steve Lacy (Hathut, 1981) [compiles Snake Out, Herbe L'oubli and Lets Call This with additional tracks]
• What It Is (1981, Enja Records)
• One Entrance, Many Exits (Palo Alto, 1982)
• In Retrospect (Baybridge, 1982)
• Breaking New Ground (Baybridge, 1983)
• Mal Waldron Plays Eric Satie (Baybridge, 1983)
• You and the Night and the Music (Paddlewheel, 1983)
• Encounters with David Friesen (Muse, 1984)
• Mal Waldron and Alone (CBS/Sony (Japan), 1985)
• Songs of Love and Regret with Marion Brown (Free Lance (France), 1985)
• Dedication with David Friesen - (Soul Note, 1985)
• Space (Vent Du Sud (France), 1986)
• Sempre Amore with Steve Lacy (Soul Note, 1986)
• Update (Soul Note, 1986)
• Left Alone '86 with Jackie McLean (Paddle Wheel, 1986)
• The Git Go - Live at the Village Vanguard (Soul Note, 1986)
• The Seagulls of Kristiansund (Soul Note, 1986)
• Our Colline's a Treasure (Soul Note, 1986 - released 1991)
• Remembering the Moment with David Friesen, Eddie Moore, Jim Pepper & Julian Priester (Soul Note, 1987)
• The Super Quartet Live at Sweet Basil with Steve Lacy (Paddle Wheel, 1987)
• Mal, Dance and Soul (Enja, 1987)
• Evidence (Dark Light, 1988)
• Art of the Duo with Jim Pepper (Tutu, 1989)
• No More Tears (For Lady Day) (Timeless, 1989)
• Into the Light ( aka Duo,Solo,Quartet) (Materiale Sonori, 1989)
• Crowd Scene (Soul Note, 1989)
• Where Are You? (Soul Note, 1989)
• Quadrologue at Utopia featuring Jim Pepper (Tutu, 1989)
• More Git' Go at Utopia featuring Jim Pepper (Tutu, 1989)
• Spring in Prague (Alfa Jazz, 1990)
• Hot House with Steve Lacy (Arista/Novus, 1991)
• I Remember Thelonious with Steve Lacy (Nel Jazz, 1992)
• My Dear Family (Evidence, 1993)
• Waldron-Haslam with George Haslam (Slam, 1994)
• After Hours with Jeanne Lee (Owl, 1994)
• Mal, Verve, Black & Blue (Tutu, 1994)
• Two New with George Haslam (Slam, 1995)
• Maturity 4: White Road, Black Rain with Jeanne Lee (Tokuma, 1995)
• Maturity 3: Dual with Takeo Moriyama (Tokuma, 1995)
• Maturity 2: He's My Father with Mala Waldron (Tokuma, 1995)
• Art of the Duo: The Big Rochade with Nicolas Simion (Tutu, 1995)
• Maturity 5: The Elusiveness of Mt. Fuji (Tokuma, 1996)
• Soul Eyes with Jeanne Lee and Abbey Lincoln (BMG, 1997)
• Maturity 1: Klassics (Tokuma, 1998)
• Riding A Zephyr with Judi Silvano (Soul Note, 2000)
• Silence with David Murray
• One More Time with Steve Lacy (Sketch, 2002)
• Left Alone Revisited with Archie Shepp (Enja, 2002)

As sideman

With Gene Ammons

• Jammin' with Gene (Prestige, 1956)
• Funky (Prestige, 1957)
• Jammin' in Hi Fi (Prestige, 1957)
• Groove Blues (Prestige, 1958)
• The Big Sound (Prestige, 1958)
• Blue Gene (Prestige, 1958)
• Velvet Soul (Prestige, 1962)
• Sock! (Prestige, 1962)
• Angel Eyes (Prestige, 1962)

With Benny Bailey

• Soul Eyes (MPS, 1968)

With Kenny Burrell

• All Night Long (Prestige, 1956)
• Two Guitars (Prestige, 1957)

With Roy Burrowes

• Live at the Dreher (Marge 14, 1980)

With Ron Carter

• Where? (Prestige, 1961)

With Teddy Charles

• The Teddy Charles Tentet (Atlantic, 1956)
• Vibe-Rant (Elektra, 1957)
• Jazz in the Garden (Warwick, 1960)

With John Coltrane

• Dakar (Prestige, 1957)
• Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette with Paul Quinichette (Prestige, 1957)
• Coltrane (Prestige, 1957)

With Nathan Davis

• Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery (Edici, 1969)

With Eric Dolphy

• At the Five Spot (Prestige, 1961)

With Ray Draper

• Tuba Sounds (Prestige, 1957)

With Embryo

• Steig Aus (Brain, 1970)
• Rocksession (Brain, 1971)
• Turn Peace (Schneeball, 1989)
• 40 (Trikont, 2010)

With Duško Gojković

• Swinging Macedonia (Philips, 1966)

'With Bennie Green

• Hornful of Soul (Bethlehem, 1960)

With Terumasa Hino

• Reminiscent Suite (Victor [Japan], 1972)

With Billie Holiday

• Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport (Verve, 1957)
• Lady in Satin (Columbia, 1958)

With Etta Jones

• So Warm (Prestige, 1961)

With Kimiko Kasai

• One for Lady (Victor [Japan], 1971)

With Steve Lacy

• Reflections (New Jazz, 1958)

With Abbey Lincoln

• Straight Ahead (Candid, 1961)

With Teo Macero

• Teo Macero with the Prestige Jazz Quartet (Prestige, 1957)
• Something New, Something Blue with Manny Albam (Columbia, 1959)

With Jackie McLean

• 4, 5 and 6 (Prestige, 1956)
• Jackie's Pal (Prestige, 1956)
• Jackie McLean & Co. (Prestige, 1957)
• Makin' the Changes (Prestige, 1957)
• A Long Drink of the Blues (Prestige, 1957)
• McLean's Scene (Prestige, 1957)

With Charles Mingus

• Mingus at the Bohemia (Debut, 1955)
• The Charles Mingus Quintet & Max Roach (Debut, 1955)
• Pithecanthropus Erectus (Atlantic, 1957)
• Blues & Roots (Atlantic, 1960)

With The Prestige All Stars

• Earthy (Prestige, 1957)
• 4 Altos (Prestige, 1957)
• Olio (Prestige, 1957)
• Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors (Prestige, 1957)
• Coolin' (New Jazz, 1957)
• After Hours (Prestige, 1957)
• Wheelin' & Dealin' (Prestige, 1957)

With Paul Quinchette

• On the Sunny Side (Prestige, 1957)

With Max Roach

• Percussion Bitter Sweet (Impulse!, 1961)
• It's Time (Impulse, 1962)
• Speak, Brother, Speak! (Impulse!, 1962)

With Klaus Weiss

• Childs Prayer (EMI/Electrola, 1978)
• On Tour (Calig, 1979)

With Johnny Dyani

• Some Jive Ass Boer (Jazz Unité 102 , 1981)

With Eldee Young

• Eldee Young and Company (Argo, 1961)

With Webster Young

• For Lady (Prestige, 1957)

With Earl Zindars/Armando Peraza

• The Soul of Jazz Percussion (Warwick, 1960)

As composer

• The Dizzy Gillespie quintet - The Cool World (Philips, 1964)

References

1. ^ Allmusic biography

External links

• A chronological list of Mal Waldron records
• Mal Waldron Discography (updated until 1990)
• A Mal Waldron Biography
• "On Mal Waldron" by Ethan Iverson

Persondata
Name	Waldron, Mal
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 16, 1925
Place of birth
Date of death	December 2, 2002
Place of death