Music Monday: Mal Waldron

Happy Halloween. I have a more seasonally appropriate post on tap for tomorrow (provided I get done today what I think I can get done). So for now, I’ll stick with my Music Monday routine and save the spooky business for tomorrow.

September saw the release of a live recording of pianist Mal Waldron in Grenoble from 1978. The album, titled Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert, shows Waldron in great form as he romps his way through a combination of his own compositions and standards. Waldron’s career is usually divided into two parts. Prior to a drug overdose and breakdown in 1963, he developed a more angular and repetitive style which is a bit of an acquired taste. I have to admit that I don’t think that I could listen to Search in Grenoble every day, but much like Horace Tapscott, there is something about his playing style that is compelling.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t note the late use of Davida font on the album cover! I have a soft spot for Davida because of its use over at North Dakota Quarterly.

In fact, I found his nearly contemporary performance with Clifford Jordan, Cecil McBee, and Dannie Richmond, very entertaining. There’s something about the interplay between McBee, Jordan, and Waldron that tempers the relentlessness of Waldon’s piano by dividing its impulsive drive among the other musicians. Richmond is fine on the album as well, but Jordan’s tenor and McBee’s bass really stand out lyrically.  

Finally, there is a lot of great Mal Waldron to listen to. In fact, I really appreciate his early hard bop dates from the mid-1950s (Mal-1, Mal/2, and so on, and The Quest (1961) is just amazing for any music fan). Instead, I want to shine a bit of light on a really unusual Mal Waldron date: The Call(1971).

Not only does it feature Waldron on “electric piano” but puts him alongside organist Jimmy Jackson and bassist Eberhard Weber. Weber, of course, becomes a staple of ECM’s vast catalogue of jazz and improvised music and is a nice reminder that Waldron was the first artist recorded by ECM in 1969 with Free at Last being ECM 1001. This album is recorded in the JAPO label (which apparently stands from Jazz by Post) which was a division of ECM and The Call JAPO’s first release (as 60001). 

Despite its ECM ties, The Call seems to draw a as much on soul jazz as fusion and Waldron’s has a chance to show off a bit of his range as he and Weber drive this album along atop Jackson’s organ. In fact, this album maybe the least demanding and most simply enjoyable of Waldon’s albums especially for late night or early morning listening.