Mal Waldron Albums (71)
What The Critics Say
The Whirling Dervish looms among Mal Waldron's boldest and most challenging sessions -- its three epic compositions are intimidating in their scope and reach, but the music rewards the intellectual commitment it demands with some of the pianist's most inspired playing. Liberated from the conventions of structure and tempo, Waldron immerses himself completely in pieces like "Reaching Out" and "Walk," creating strong, wonderfully complex lines driven as much by emotion as by intellect -- bassist Peter Warren and drummer Noel McGhie anchor the music in reality but also push it further into the unknown, forging rhythms that suggest the pulse of some strange, heretofore unknown life form. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
'Mal Waldron With the Steve Lacy Quintet'
Release Date 3/15/2005
Tracks 5
Label Verve
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What The Critics Say
On Steinway was originally recorded in 1972 and issued on LP only in Japan on the independent Teichiku imprint. It contains four selections, all of which were composed by Mal Waldron. The pieces here are not Waldron's most adventurous, but that's just fine, because what's on offer is delightful. The opener, "Portrait of a Bullfighter," is compelling for its use of Latin rhythmic figures, and its transition into a ballad about halfway through. Waldron's use of a limited chromatic palette makes the piece taut yet dynamically fluid. "One for Bud" is Waldron's tribute to the pianist who influenced him most. It employs Powell's right-hand technique of creating long single-note runs, but Waldron imposes his own notion of phrasing, arpeggio, and scale while once more keeping a firm grip on the chord figures of the left hand. The most beautiful of these pieces is "For Erik Satie," in which the pianist employs a single-chord vamp for its entirety, while engaging mysterious, elliptical lyric figures in the melody. A ballad, it employs Eastern scales and modes in places, and the use of silence and space is pure Waldron. The set closes with "Paris Reunited," the longest thing here in which folk melodies, French popular tunes, and bebop are interlaced in swells of notes before shifting chromatic gears in the middle toward something moodier and melancholy, to the point of near elegy before coming out the other side into a swell of pastoral emotion. In sum, this is a fine and curious date; it showcases the pianist using the Steinway as a compositional element in his tunes and puts a different side of his mercurial musical personality on display. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'The Lausanne Concert'
Release Date 6/15/2004
Tracks 3
Label Elephant
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'Spring in Prague'
Release Date 10/20/2003
Tracks 7
Label Pony Canyon
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'Maturity, Vol. 5: Mount Fuji'
Release Date 8/25/2003
Tracks 11
Label Tokuma
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'One Entrance, Many Exits'
Release Date 7/15/2003
Tracks 6
Label Quicksilver
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What The Critics Say
It is a pity that this album is long out-of-print for the combination of musicians works quite well. Pianist Mal Waldron has an inside/outside post bop style that matches perfectly with tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist David Friesen and drummer Billy Higgins. On five Waldron originals plus the standard "How Deep Is The Ocean," Henderson and the pianist are heard soloing in top form. Highlgihts include "Chazz Jazz" (dedicated to Charles Mingus), "Golden Golson" (which is purposely in the style of Benny Golson) and an ad-lib blues for the trio "Blues In 4 By 3." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
