Brooding and darkly elegant music as usual by Mal Waldron on this rare 1970 Japan only release. Been after this for quite a while. It’s a title which sits high on my list of favorite Waldron albums. Very happy to have been able to grab it from the land of origin courtesy of a newly established channel.
The trio performing the lovely music is Waldron on piano, Isla Eckinger on double bass and Fred Braceful on drums. Favorite tune has to be ”Black Chant”. The rest are also top. Dig the concept of doing a Beatles cover in a jazz setting as well, namely ”Eleanor Rigby”. A wonderful rendition.
The sound is excellent on this one, a great recording. It says ECM on the cover but it was never released by them. Maybe it was intended to be released, don’t know. Anyway, released by the Japanese label Globe, a subsidiary to Victor.
Regarding the cover, I dig how they did the trashed spine stuff with the colours. First when I saw the images I thought: is the spine messed up? All part of the design which is quite cool.
If you love Waldron, for me, this is a must have.