For a number of years I did not understand Mal Waldron’s piano-playing conception— his halting solos bothered me for some strange reason. I admired his playing on Mingus’s Cafe Bohemia recording—one can hear Mingus intoning, “Yea, Mal, go on”. This evening I’m listening to Mal Waldron’s trio CD, Mal/4. Mal is right out of Bud Powell!
Whereas Bud Powell was in his playing almost ahead of the beat (a forward pulse), Mal Waldron seems to be playing almost on the beat, a solid pulse. Because Mal Waldron’s playing was of Bud Powell (in a deep way that I had not understood, previously), I now understand why Jackie McLean dug Mal’s playing so much—they recorded quite a bit together.
I had the pleasure in 1961 of holding the phone for Mal Waldron at the Five Spot (I happened to be sitting next to him at the bar), so that he could take the call in the back. Ornette Coleman was performing that evening with Bobby Bradford (t) and Charles Moffett (d), David Izenzon may have been the man on the bass.
Mal/3: Sounds with Art Farmer and Elvin Jones is a another beautiful Mal Waldron recording. His beautiful composition, Soul Eyes is a jazz standard. He recorded it with John Coltrane. Coltrane’s recording of it with his quartet is a classic. Stan Getz’s recording with Kenny Barron is also a favorite of mine and should be better known.
No comments:
Post a Comment