Results for "Mal Waldron"

Jazz & Film: An Alternative Top 20 Soundtrack Albums

by Chris May
June 24, 2020

Jazz and the movies have a shared history stretching back almost a hundred years. The relationship came into its own in the US in the mid twentieth century. Elia Kazan's 1950 movie Panic In The Streets is an early example of how film makers used jazz-based soundtracks to enhance drama and atmosphere and create ambiances of ...

Prestige Records: An Alternative Top 20 Albums

by Chris May
June 9, 2020

Along with Alfred Lion's Blue Note and Orrin Keepnews' Riverside, Bob Weinstock's Prestige was at the top table of independent New York City-based jazz labels from the early 1950s until the mid 1960s. Like those other two labels, Prestige built up a profuse catalogue packed with enduring treasures. Originally a record retailer, Weinstock ...

Trout Mask Replica

by Eric Gudas
May 3, 2020

“No Instruction Sheet": Trout Mask Replica's Unfathomable Origin Story If you were a teenager who liked freaky stuff, on a June day in 1969 you could bicycle down to your local record store and buy a brand-new, shrink-wrapped album with a man covering his entire face with an actual fish head on the cover. A double-LP ...

It Takes Two to Jazz: Part I

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 21, 2020

This week we focus on the art of the duo. A challenging format as one does neither have the complete freedom of a solo nor the support of a larger band. Yet, in the hands of the right artists, it can produce magical music. Happy listening! Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme ...

Mal Waldron

Born: August 16, 1925

Born in New York City, Waldron's jazz work was chiefly in the hard bop, post-bop and free jazz genres. He is known for his distinctive chord voicings and adaptable style, which was originally inspired by the playing of Thelonious Monk.

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 (including the jazz standard "Soul Eyes"). After Holiday's death he chiefly led his own groups.

Silenced in Their Prime - Eric Dolphy & Booker Little (1961 - 1964)

by Russell Perry
February 4, 2020

From his first recordings with Chico Hamilton in 1958 until his untimely death from misdiagnosed diabetic shock in 1964, Eric Dolphy was limited to only six years in which to record the music that has defined his extraordinary legacy. Previously, in this series, we have heard from Dolphy's great 1960 recording, Far Cry and his contributions ...

A Herbie Nichols' Centennial - Part II

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 1, 2020

The second part of this week's tribute to Herbie Nichols focuses on the work of champions of his music like Roswell Rudd, Misha Mengelberg, Steve Lacy and, again, the Herbie Nichols Project with some never-heard-before live recordings from the vaults of the Jazz Composers Collective. For the first part of this Herbie Nichols special ...

Manfred Eicher: ECM 50 at Centre Culturel Flagey, Brussels

by Mario Calvitti
January 12, 2020

This article first appeared at italia.allaboutjazz.com. ECM 50Centre Culturel FlageyBrussels, BelgiumNovember 21-24, 2019 During the year marking the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the German record company ECM, there have been numerous music festivals in Europe and America dedicated to the official celebration of the event. One of ...

Michael Jackson: Man in a Jazz Mirror - Part I

by Ludovico Granvassu
January 7, 2020

This week let's pay homage to the musical legacy of Michael Jackson. It has been 10 years since Michael Jackson passed away and lots of things have emerged since then, but the popularity of his music remains strong, including among jazz musicians (the majority of the tracks featured this week was released after his ...

2019: The Year in Jazz

by Ken Franckling
January 2, 2020

The year 2019 was robust in many ways. International Jazz Day brought its biggest stage to Australia. An important but long-shuttered jazz mecca was revived in a coast-to-coast move. ECM Records celebrated a golden year. The music and its makers figured prominently on the big screen. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA ...