Highly enjoyable debut by one of my favorite pianists in jazz, Mal Waldron. The rendition of the tune “Yesterdays” is really good. Slow, smooth with a bit of melancholy. Right up my alley. A favorite tune for sure. This album feels like it’s rehearsed and tight. Everyone plays for each other and everything seems very cohesive. Great solos throughout by Gryce, Sulieman and Waldron. Best Waldron moment, for me, is his solo on “Dee’s Dilemma”. He makes every note count, so lyrical, it’s brilliant. It gives me hope about the world, you know?
All in all a very good album which can be enjoyed with a nice cup of coffee in the early evening in the middle of August, like I’m doing right now. Not entirely easy to find an original of unfortunately. Really happy with my copy. Great cover by Reid Miles.
There’s a lot of Waldron albums that I’m missing, but I’m aiming to find some more of them. A lot more. Almost had a copy of one of his titles on New Jazz before the summer, but decided to return it cause it had some substantial marks on one side. They didn’t sound apparently according to my friend when he play graded it, but they looked nastier than I thought they would, so I decided not to play it and instead opted to return it. Hoping to find another copy. Waldron released some really good stuff on the New Jazz label.
Some questions: maybe I’ve asked this before, but.. favorite Waldron album? Thoughts on Mal-1? Top 3 Prestige albums in the 7000 - 7100 span?
Right now I’m pondering on joining the Instagram vinyl community and also to have another crack at a YouTube channel where I can show some records. We’ll see what happens. Would that be something you guys would be interested in following? Let me know.
Have a great rest of the week and stay tuned for more original vintage jazz vinyl… cheers.