Mal Waldron

Mal Waldron
Mal Waldron in 1987
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm Earl Waldron
Born	(1925-08-16)August 16, 1925 New York City, New York, United States
Died	December 2, 2002(2002-12-02) (aged 77) Brussels, Belgium
Genres	Modal jazz Avant-garde jazz Hard bop Post bop
Occupations	Musician, composer
Instruments	Piano
Years active	Early 1950s–2002
Labels	Prestige, New Jazz, Enja, ECM, RCA Victor (Japan), Soul Note
Associated acts	Gene Ammons, Billie Holiday, Steve Lacy, Jeanne Lee, Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus

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

Like his contemporaries, Waldron's roots lay 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

Waldron played jazz on alto saxophone before piano, which he had intially wanted to play as a classical musician; the change occurred when he was a student at Queens College, New York. After obtaining a B.A. in music, he worked in New York City in 1950 with Ike Quebec, making both his professional public and recording debuts with the saxophonist. He worked frequently with Charles Mingus from 1954 to 1956. His own band, a quintet, was formed in 1956, feauturing Idrees Sulieman and Gigi Gryce. Waldron was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist from April 1957 until her death in July 1959. He played on numerous sessions for Prestige Records from 1956 to 1958. He often used his own arrangements and compositions, of which his most famous, "Soul Eyes", became a widely recorded jazz standard. In the early 1960s he played in Eric Dolphy and Booker Little's quintet.

In 1963 he had a major nervous breakdown brought on by exhaustion and a heroin overdose; Waldron recounted in 1998 that a lot of musicians felt that taking drugs was necessary for career progression. The police simply assumed they were all doing it:

The police would stop the musicians and search us as we came out of the clubs after work. We had to turn our pockets inside out. After awhile, [sic] the musicians thought ... well, if you have the name you might as well have the game. Eventually, I overdosed. I couldn't remember my own name. My hands were trembling, I couldn't play the piano. I needed shock treatments and a spinal tap to bring me back.

Waldron then had to re-learn his skills, reputedly by listening to his own records. His 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.

Besides performing, he composed for films (The Cool World (1963), Three Rooms in Manhattan (1964) and Sweet Love, Bitter), theater, and ballet. From the mid-1960s he spent a lot of time in Europe: Paris, Rome, Bologna, and Cologne, before moving permanently to Munich in 1967. In Europe at this time he played with other expatriates, including Ben Webster and Kenny Clarke. He became popular in Japan, first playing there in 1970. From 1975 he made visits to the U. S., mostly playing solo piano from the late 1970s to early 1980s. Other formats included: a quartet with Joe Henderson, Herbie Lewis, and Freddie Waits; another quartet with Charlie Rouse, Calvin Hill and Horacee Arnold; a trio with Hill and Arnold; and a duo with Cameron Brown.

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. Waldron moved to Brussels in the 1990s. After some years of indifferent health, Waldron, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with cancer in 2002. He continued to perform until his death on December 2 of that year, in hospital in Brussels, due to complications resulting from the cancer. He was 76.

Playing style

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 he himself would sit perfectly motionless, stoic and stolid at the piano, his face devoid of all emotion.

Personal life

Waldron married twice and had seven children. His first wife, Elaine, occasionally sang on Waldron's recordings. Combining birthday celebrations with a tour, he took both families – ex-wife, wife, seven children (two with the first wife and five with second) and two grandchildren – on his three-week tour of Japan that coincided with his seventieth birthday. He could speak English, German, Japanese and French.

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader

Year recorded	Title	Label	Personnel/Notes
1956	Mal-1	Prestige	With Idrees Sulieman (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Julian Euell (bass), Arthur Edgehill (drums)
1957	Mal/2	Prestige	With Bill Hardman and Idrees Sulieman (trumpet; separately), Jackie McLean and Sahib Shihab (alto sax; separately), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Julian Euell (bass), Art Taylor and Ed Thigpen (drums; separately)
1957	The Dealers	Status	With Bill Hardman (trumpet), John Coltrane and Paul Quinichette (tenor sax), Frank Wess (tenor sax, flute), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Julian Euell and Doug Watkins (bass; separately), Art Taylor (drums)
1958	Mal/3: Sounds	New Jazz
1958	Mal/4: Trio	New Jazz
1959	Left Alone	Bethlehem	With Jackie McLean (alto sax; one track only), Julian Euell (bass), Al Dreares (drums); Waldron talks about Billie Holiday on one track
1959	Impressions	New Jazz	With Addison Farmer (bass) Albert Heath (drums)
1961	The Quest	New Jazz	With Eric Dolphy (alto sax, bass clarinet), Booker Ervin (tenor sax), Ron Carter (cello), Joe Benjamin (bass) Charlie Persip (drums)
1966	All Alone	GTA	Solo piano
1967	Sweet Love, Bitter	Impulse!
1969	Ursula	Musica
1969	Set Me Free	Affinity
1969	Free at Last	ECM	With Isla Eckinger (bass), Clarence Beckton (drums)
1970	Tokyo Bound	RCA Victor
1970	Tokyo Reverie	RCA Victor
1970	Blood and Guts	Futura
1970	Spanish Bitch	ECM
1970	The Opening	Futura
1971	The Call	JAPO
1971	Mal: Live 4 to 1	Philips
1971	First Encounter	RCA Victor	With Gary Peacock (bass; co-leader), Hiroshi Murakami (drums)
1971	Number Nineteen	Freedom
1971	Black Glory	Enja
1971	Mal Waldron Plays the Blues	Enja
1971	Signals	Freedom
1971	Journey Without End	RCA Victor	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader), Kent Carter (bass), Noel McGhie (drums)
1972	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	America (France)
1972	The Whirling Dervish	America (France)
1972	Meditations	RCA Victor
1973	Up Popped the Devil	Enja	With Carla Poole (flute; one track only), Reggie Workman (bass), Billy Higgins (drums)
1974	Hard Talk	Enja
1976	Like Old Time	RCA Victor	With Jackie McLean (alto sax; co-leader), Isao Suzuki (bass), Billy Higgins (drums)
1977	One-Upmanship	Enja
1978	Moods	Enja
1979	Mingus Lives	Enja
1981	Mal 81	Progressive
1981	News: Run About Mal	Progressive
1981	Snake Out	Hathut	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader)
1981	Herbe de l'oubli	Hathut	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader)
1981	Lets Call This	Hathut	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader)
1981	Live at Dreher, Paris 1981	Hathut	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader); compiles Snake Out, Herbe de l'oubli and Lets Call This, with additional tracks
1981	What It Is	Enja
1982	One Entrance, Many Exits	Palo Alto
1982	In Retrospect	Baybridge
1983	Breaking New Ground	Baybridge
1983	Mal Waldron Plays Eric Satie	Baybridge
1983	You and the Night and the Music	Paddle Wheel
1984	Encounters	Muse	With David Friesen (bass; co-leader)
1985	Mal Waldron and Alone	CBS/Sony
1985	Songs of Love and Regret	Freelance Records	With Marion Brown (alto sax; co-leader)
1985	Dedication	Soul Note	With David Friesen (bass; co-leader)
1986	Space	Vent du Sud
1986	Sempre Amore	Soul Note	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader)
1986	Update	Soul Note
1986	Left Alone '86	Paddle Wheel	With Jackie McLean (alto sax; co-leader), Herbie Lewis (bass), Eddie Moore (drums)
1986	The Git Go - Live at the Village Vanguard	Soul Note
1986	The Seagulls of Kristiansund	Soul Note
1987	Our Colline's a Treasure	Soul Note	With Leonard Jones (bass), Sangoma Everett (drums)
1987	Remembering the Moment	Soul Note	With Julian Priester (trombone), Jim Pepper (tenor sax), David Friesen (bass), Eddie Moore (drums)
1987	The Super Quartet Live at Sweet Basil	Paddle Wheel	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax), Reggie Workman (bass), Eddie Moore (drums)
1987	Mal, Dance and Soul	Enja
1988	Evidence	Dark Light
1988	Art of the Duo	Tutu	With Jim Pepper (tenor sax, soprano sax)
1989	No More Tears (For Lady Day)	Timeless
1989	Into the Light	Materiali Sonori	Also known as Duo, Solo, Quartet
1989	Crowd Scene	Soul Note
1989	Where Are You?	Soul Note
1989	Quadrologue at Utopia	Tutu	With Jim Pepper (tenor sax, soprano sax), Ed Schuller (bass), John Betsch (drums)
1989	More Git' Go at Utopia	Tutu	With Jim Pepper (tenor sax, soprano sax), Ed Schuller (bass), John Betsch (drums)
1990	Spring in Prague	Alfa Jazz
1990	Hot House	Arista/Novus	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader)
1992	I Remember Thelonious	Nel Jazz	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax; co-leader)
1993	My Dear Family	Evidence
1994	Waldron-Haslam	Slam	With George Haslam (baritone sax; co-leader)
1994	After Hours	Owl	With Jeanne Lee (vocals, co-leader)
1994	Mal, Verve, Black & Blue	Tutu
1995	Two New	Slam	With George Haslam (baritone sax; co-leader)
1995	Maturity 4: White Road, Black Rain	Tokuma	With Toru Tenda (flute), Jeanne Lee (vocals)
1995	Maturity 3: Dual	Tokuma	With Takeo Moriyama (drums)
1995	Maturity 2: He's My Father	Tokuma	With Mala Waldron (piano, vocals)
1995	Art of the Duo: The Big Rochade	Tutu	With Nicolas Simion (soprano sax, tenor sax, bass clarinet)
1996	Maturity 5: The Elusiveness of Mt. Fuji	Tokuma	Solo piano
1997	Soul Eyes	BMG	Featuring Jeanne Lee and Abbey Lincoln (vocals)
1998	Maturity 1: Klassics	Tokuma	With Yoshihiko Katori (vibes), Kengo Nakamura (bass)
2000	Riding a Zephyr	Soul Note	With Judi Silvano (vocals)
2001	Silence	Justin Time	With David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet)
2002	One More Time	Sketch	With Steve Lacy (soprano sax), Jean-Jacques Avenel (bass)
2002	Left Alone Revisited	Enja	With Archie Shepp (sax, vocals)

As sideman

Year recorded	Leader	Title	Label
1956	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Jammin' with Gene	Prestige
1957	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Funky	Prestige
1957	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons	Prestige
1958	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	The Big Sound	Prestige
1958	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Groove Blues	Prestige
1958	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Blue Gene	Prestige
1962	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Velvet Soul	Prestige
1962	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Angel Eyes	Prestige
1962	Ammons, GeneGene Ammons	Sock!	Prestige
1968	Bailey, BennyBenny Bailey	Soul Eyes	MPS
1956	Burrell, KennyKenny Burrell	All Night Long	Prestige
1957	Burrell, KennyKenny Burrell	Earthy	Prestige
1957	Burrell, KennyKenny Burrell	2 Guitars	Prestige
1980	Burowes, RoyRoy Burowes	Live at the Dreher	Marge
1961	Carter, RonRon Carter	Where?	Prestige
1956	Charles, TeddyTeddy Charles	The Teddy Charles Tentet	Atlantic
1957	Charles, TeddyTeddy Charles	Vibe-Rant	Elektra
1960	Charles, TeddyTeddy Charles	Jazz in the Garden	Warwick
1957	Coltrane, JohnJohn Coltrane	Dakar	Prestige
1957	Coltrane, JohnJohn Coltrane	Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette	Prestige
1957	Coltrane, JohnJohn Coltrane	Coltrane	Prestige
1969	Davis, NathanNathan Davis	Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery	Edici
1961	Dolphy, EricEric Dolphy	At the Five Spot	Prestige
1957	Draper, RayRay Draper	Tuba Sounds	Prestige
1981	Dyani, JohnnyJohnny Dyani	Some Jive Ass Boer	Jazz Unité
1970	Embryo, Embryo	Steig aus	Brain
1971	Embryo, Embryo	Rocksession	Brain
1989	Embryo, Embryo	Turn Peace	Schneeball
2010*	Embryo, Embryo	40	Trikont
1966	Gojković, DuškoDuško Gojković	Swinging Macedonia	Philips
1960	Green, BennieBennie Green	Hornful of Soul	Bethlehem
1972	Hino, TerumasaTerumasa Hino	Reminiscent Suite	Victor (Japan)
1957	Holiday, BillieBillie Holiday	Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport	Verve
1958	Holiday, BillieBillie Holiday	Lady in Satin	Columbia
1961	Jones, EttaEtta Jones	So Warm	Prestige
1957	Jones, ThadThad Jones	Olio	Prestige
1957	Jones, ThadThad Jones	After Hours	Prestige
1971	Kasai, KimikoKimiko Kasai	One for Lady	JVC/Victor (Japan)
1958	Lacy, SteveSteve Lacy	Reflections	New Jazz
1961	Lincoln, AbbeyAbbey Lincoln	Straight Ahead	Candid
1957	Macero, TeoTeo Macero	Teo Macero with the Prestige Jazz Quartet	Prestige
1959	Macero, TeoTeo Macero	Something New, Something Blue	Columbia
1956	McLean, JackieJackie McLean	4, 5 and 6	Prestige
1956	McLean, JackieJackie McLean	Jackie's Pal	Prestige
1957	McLean, JackieJackie McLean	Jackie McLean & Co.	Prestige
1957	McLean, JackieJackie McLean	Makin' the Changes	Prestige
1957	McLean, JackieJackie McLean	A Long Drink of the Blues	Pretige
1957	McLean, JackieJackie McLean	McLean's Scene	Prestige
1955	Mingus, CharlesCharles Mingus	Mingus at the Bohemia	Debut
1955	Mingus, CharlesCharles Mingus	The Charles Mingus Quintet & Max Roach	Debut
1957	Mingus, CharlesCharles Mingus	Pithecanthropus Erectus	Atlantic
1960	Mingus, CharlesCharles Mingus	Blues & Roots	Atlantic
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	Baritones and French Horns	Prestige
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	Earthy	Prestige
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	4 Altos	Prestige
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	Olio	Prestige
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors	Prestige
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	Coolin'	New Jazz
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	After Hours	Prestige
1957	The Prestige All Stars, The Prestige All Stars	Wheelin' & Dealin'	Prestige
1957	Quinichette, PaulPaul Quinichette	On the Sunny Side	Prestige
1961	Roach, MaxMax Roach	Percussion Bitter Sweet	Impulse!
1962	Roach, MaxMax Roach	It's Time	Impulse!
1962	Roach, MaxMax Roach	Speak, Brother, Speak!	Impulse!
1978	Weiss, KlausKlaus Weiss	Childs Prayer	EMI/Electrola
1979	Weiss, KlausKlaus Weiss	On Tour	Calig
1957	Woods, PhilPhil Woods	Four Altos	Prestige
1961	Young, EldeeEldee Young	Eldee Young and Company	Argo
1957	Young, WebsterWebster Young	For Lady	Prestige
1960	Zindars, EarlEarl Zindars (and Armando Peraza)	The Soul of Jazz Percussion	Warwick

As composer

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

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