The Call is an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron, recorded in 1971 and released on the JAPO label...It is Waldron's only album as a bandleader to feature him playing the electric piano.

It was included as one of the 640 albums covered in the 2013 Japanese book Obscure Sound, written by Chee Shimizu. Shimizu praised the album for its "funky psychedelic groove" and interplay between Waldron's electric piano and Jimmy Jackson's organ - Wikipedia

“I feel if you look back too much,
you trip when you take a step forward.”
–Mal Waldron

"Over two long takes, averaging 20 minutes each, he and an all-star team transport us to a warm and inviting sound that is equal parts hard bop jam, psychedelic dream, and free jazz meditation." Tyran Grillo

https://ecmreviews.com/tag/mal-waldron/

https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/reviews/mal-waldron-the-call

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOT0GdfMEeA&list=RDHOT0GdfMEeA&start_radio=1

#MalWaldron #ECM #Music #ElectricPiano #JazzRock #HeadHeritage #ObscureSound #CheeShimizu #Embryo #JAPO

Spanish Bitch by Mal Waldron, released on ECM in 1970.

Tyran Grillo wrote for ECM Reviews:

"SIDE A opens with the eponymous tune, and through its modal affiliations nods in the direction of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, who also appropriated Spanish scales for effect. In his hands, however, such motifs take on an almost ritualistic quality as scaffolding for an idiosyncratic reverie. From a web of bass and plucked piano strings emerges a vibrant block of chords. Waldron sets aside the theme almost as soon as he develops it, using it as a springboard for his laser-focused energy. Eckinger’s unusual solo sets up Waldron’s phenomenal own, building to steadfast density and playing off Braceful with glorious aplomb...

https://ecmreviews.com/2020/04/06/mal-waldron-spanish-bitch/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE2q3kVf0fc&list=RDRE2q3kVf0fc&start_radio=1

#MalWaldron #ECM #ECMReviews #JazzPianoTrio #Jazz #Music #TheBeatles #EleanorRigby

The Opening is a live album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron featuring a performance recorded in Paris in 1970 and released on the French Futura label.

egrojworld wrote on their blog:

"A pianist with a brooding, rhythmic, introverted style, Mal Waldron's playing has long been flexible enough to fit into both hard bop and freer settings.
The Opening, recorded in November 1970 (a year before he had recorded Free at Last - the first ever release by the iconic ECM label) is a solo piano setting from a period in which he mainly performed this way between his visits to Japan and back home in the States.
When you hear Mal Waldron’s sound, you hear the New York sophistication, the stride piano thing, the Ellington-Monk continuum, the Bud Powell sound — and of course, Mal Waldron, as Charles Mingus admonished him always to retain…"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvjd6Kw09_A&list=RDwvjd6Kw09_A&start_radio=1

#MalWaldron #Jazz #JazzPiano #SoloPiano #Music

#ListeningTo
"Candy Girl"
by #MalWaldron
https://strut.bandcamp.com/album/candy-girl

"An electrified meeting of minds, Candy Girl is a lost 1975 session by jazz pianist Mal Waldron, recorded in Paris with core members of the mighty #LafayetteAfroRockBand, the American funk unit who had made France their home and whose deep grooves would later be mined by generations of hip-hop producers."

[ Original release #Calumet60_3742 #France #1975 #Jazz #Funk ]
Released September 5, #2025
via #StrutRecords
#ThanksPeople!

Blood and Guts is a live album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron featuring a performance recorded in Paris in 1970 and released on the French Futura label.

"The sound engineer, Alain Gandolfi (future drummer and co-founder of the funky-fusion band Cortex), clearly had an interest in the upcoming proto-funk sound: Mal's piano sounds, but the drums and especially the double bass have a very deep and rich sound, mixed upfront.."

https://futuramarge.bandcamp.com/album/blood-and-guts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jbEp3cH_JQ&list=RD_jbEp3cH_JQ&start_radio=1

#malwaldron #jazzpiano #jazzpianotrio #cortex #alaingandolfi

I came across tubist Ray Draper recently when hearing recordings by Jackie McLean and Max Roach. This is his highly enjoyable 1957 debut as a leader. A year later he would also record with John Coltrane.

Ray Draper Quintet - Tuba Sounds

(1977 – Japan, Mono, Prestige – VIJ-5027(M))

#nowlistening #nowplaying #jazz #raydraperquintet #jackiemclean #tuba #malwaldron

The Charles Mingus Quintet & Max Roach is a live album by the jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus. It was released in July 1963 through Fantasy Records.[1][2] The recording was made at the Café Bohemia in December 1955. Other material from the concert was earlier released on the album Mingus at the Bohemia in 1956. Max Roach makes a guest appearance on two tracks.

In his review for AllMusic, Ron Wynn stated: "The Mingus/Roach/Mal Waldron dialogs overcome the ordinary stylings of Eddie Bert and George Barrow." - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0hP952pjvQ&list=PLKjjIa7cwTkJpnhrGIhUqTP4kiNXv40eF&index=3

#charlesmingus #maxroach #malwaldron #jazz