Album of the Week - June 22-28

[Chuck Nessa]

Mal Waldron - The Quest (click here to buy)

Jim picked me for this week. I selected this date 'cause it related to a couple of recent threads - Old Slippers and Dolphy sideman dates.

I got this as a new release back in my college days and played it weekly for about a year. Lots of memories with this one, and Charli Persip kicks ass.

[Soul Stream]

...and if you have emusic, it's on that! Hey Chuck, thanks for the cheap date!

[Joe]

I'm really gald Chuck mentioned Persip's work on this album. This record single-handedly started me on a Persip kick.

I first read about this session in David Rosenthal's HARD BOP book, which was published about the time Fantasy reissued it in the OJC series. Good timing.

I still think Booker Ervin's solo on the opening cut "Status Seeking" is one of the strongest solos he ever laid down in a studio, but the tracks that stand out after all these years for me are the 2 ballads -- "Duquility", which has an odd, aching-but-placid quality, and, of course, "Warm Canto". The last not just for Dolphy's beautiful B-flat clarinet solo, but also for Mal's, which makes locked-hands funk totally work in this context.

One of my desert island discs.

[Jim Alfredson]

Ok folks, the official week for this one has started. DISCUSS!

[king ubu]

This is a favorite of mine. What a great band! I like the pairing of Booker and Dolphy very much - the make for a good contrast. Besides, "Fire Waltz" is one of the best of the many Waldron compositions, in my opinion.

Then I like Ron Carter very much, on cello as on bass (but primarily as a sideman), and Charli Persip is one of the truly great unheralded drummers of the era, another personal favorite.

Had no chance yet to listen to it, but I'll try to tonight.

ubu

[Late]

Tangential (but semi-related) reference:

I had a chance, in '89, to attend a seminar on improvisation and jazz drumming led by Charli Persip. He actually seemed a little shy at first, but warmed up during the two hours, and was very open to any and all questions. The weird thing (at least to me at the time) was that his kit, and the way he set it up, looked quite like a "rock" set-up: the cymbals relatively high up and nearly vertical, and the bass drum and toms larger than a typical "jazz" kit. All of this didn't make a whit of difference, though, because as soon as he hit the ride cymbal, it was luscious, in-the-idiom, jazz. (It just looked like something Tommy Lee might play.)

Just wanted to add that tidbit of reminiscence.

[Chuck Nessa]

I'm a bit shocked by the few responses to this disc. In the early '60s, while in college, this record was owned and played often by almost everyone I knew - it was huge. I thought the front line alone would attract attention. This is the last Waldron recording of his "first career".

Booker and Dolphy are in perfect settings to show their best qualities (but why didn't Esmond Edwards ask for more takes of Warm Canto?). All the compositions are interesting and Rudy did a fine job recording the band. Even Mal's cigarette smoke (on the cover) intrigued me.

I guess you had to be there.

ANYWAY, I've nominated Catesta for the next AOTW. Maybe he'll have better luck.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say Mal has Ron Carter on cello, where he can't hurt anyone.

Edited June 23, 2003 by Chuck Nessa

[Alexander Hawkins]

Would definitely like to post on this one - just can't get to my copy just now!

'Warm Canto' I find quite a strange tune - it could almost be some turn of the (last) century piece of English pastoral music.

I remember liking the compositional aspect of this album a lot - I guess that's something Waldron's quite into.

The Dolphy/Ervin front line always strikes me as a peculiar idea, until I hear it (if you see what I mean). In fact, it takes a brave person to pair Dolphy with anyone in a front line, let alone another reed player. Although I never think of him as an aggressive player, I'd imagine that it's near impossible to follow him on the stand. I don't think anyone did it like Booker Little, for what it's worth, and he might have been interesting on this date.

Dolphy really sears through the opener - I remeber that much. The same kind of incandescent playing as I hear on the Mingus at Antibes album.

I also think that Waldron seems somewhat happier here than in the Five Spot recordings. Maybe I need to listen to those again, but sometimes I feel that he's really up against it with Ed Blackwell and Richard Davis, whereas Charlie Persip just lets him do his thing here (that's absolutely NOT to be read as a slur on Charlie Persip - I agree with everything that's been said about him! A fine player, from the (admittedly slight) amount I've heard).

[catesta]

I don't have this date, and can't give a good reason why I don't.

With that being said, I think I'll pick it up this week.

[Saint Vitus]

Many good discussion points thus far ... I'm sure many insightful posts will follow rest of the week.

It appears Mal Waldron doesn't get mentioned often as a major composer with the likes of Golson, Shorter, and Silver. This album alone shows the quality and range of his compositions. It could be that Mal's piano style is so distinctive as to attract most attentions from the commentators. My first encounter with his name was from a magazine article that focused on his plaintive sound and introspective style on piano.

Speaking of plaintive sound, Eric Dolphy's clarinet and Ron Carter's cello pizzicato on "Warm Canto" should take a prize. I often wonder what is so radical about Dolphy's playing ... He sounds just so haunting and beautiful on whatever instrument he uses. Guess I had to be there, huh?

As for Carter, yes, there are occasions where the tone and the intonation make this listener wince. But, overall the program is enriched due to his presence.

Reading Red's comment about a possible mismatch of Dolphy and Ervin persuaded me to try and think of an instance where Dolphy's partner sounded out of place. I couldn't find one ... Ervin sounds certainly inspired here.

Persip's more impressive with his brushwork on slower tunes here ... and he's quite impressive on the burners, too ... as "Status Seeking" here and his work with Dizzy's big band prove.

[king ubu]

I'm a bit shocked by the few responses to this disc. In the early '60s, while in college, this record was owned and played often by almost everyone I knew - it was huge. I thought the front line alone would attract attention. This is the last Waldron recording of his "first career".

Booker and Dolphy are in perfect settings to show their best qualities (but why didn't Esmond Edwards ask for more takes of Warm Canto?). All the compositions are interesting and Rudy did a fine job recording the band. Even Mal's cigarette smoke (on the cover) intrigued me.

I guess you had to be there.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say Mal has Ron Carter on cello, where he can't hurt anyone.

in my eyes, this record, simply put, is a "classic" (whatever we EXACTLY mean with this term...) - and Chuck: I'm what you could consider a youngster (age 24). So there might still be a glimpse of hope for Waldron getting some of his due.

ubu

[Alexander Hawkins]

I'm what you could consider a youngster (age 24). So there might still be a glimpse of hope for Waldron getting some of his due.

You've got three years on me, so hopefully time's on our side to get Mal his dues!

[king ubu]

Red, I'll do my best. Just ordered the 4CD hatOLOGY Waldron/Lacy reissue as a gift for a friend

ubu

[Cali]

Ummm, Warm Canto.

[JSngry]

Great pick, Chuck. It had been way too long. First got this one on the 1978 FIRE WALTZ Dolphy 2-fer on Prestige (w/a nice liner essay/personal reminiscence by Ken McIntyre, btw), and had kinda lapsed on it after a lot of listening early on. I refreshed my memory last night several times over, and it remains fresh and invigorating.

Many things struck me while hearing this for the first time in not a few years, not the least of which being how intriguing the compositions are. There's a Mingus flavor to many of the heads, but a flavor is all it is - for a group whose three main solo voices have such a distinct Mingusian pedigree, this album is decidedly NOT a "Mingus without Mingus" project as it could have been fairly easily if Waldron didn't have a strong vision of his own, a vision of how to use many of the same compositional ingredients to create a totally different finished product. As Saint Vitus noted, Waldron definitely deserves greater recognition for his composing as well for his group concept - these tunes would definitely not have the same vibe with another pianist. Waldron gives the group a strong identity by his accompaniments, not unlike Horace Silver or Ellington did. That's no small feat if you ask me, and I think it shows a "wholistic" musical mind at work, something that might have become more commonplace as time passed, but in 1961 it was still a realtively rare concept, I think. So you can sense that this is not just another blowing session or a cursory runthrough of some forward-looking originals stemming from Mingus' influence. It COULD have been, but Waldron's pianistic shading throughout and attention to detail in arrangements sees to it that it's not. It's HIS world, his room with a view to all the currents of the time, and when the curtains are drawn, there's enough to hold your interest right there in that room that you don't really care if the curtains ever get reopened or not.

And speaking of "forward looking", does anybody besides me hear more than a few moments that hint at Wayne Shorter's work later in the decade? "Duquility", in both the tune itself and the arrangement (which seems to have taken a lesson in two-horn scoring from Gerry Mulligan, of all people!) keeps reminding me of a Wayne tune or two (and oddly enough, Cecil Taylor's "Enter Evening" from UNIT STRUCTURES in the way the horns fade to quiet before the piano begins again, and Carter's arco cello somehow conjures Alan Silva. Wierd association, I know...), the opening of "Thirteen" prefigures THE ALL SEEING EYE not slightly (and by doing so inadvertantly shines a light on the Dolphy/Spaulding tonal connection that I might otherwise have overlooked), the theme to "We Diddit" has me flashing on Wayne's "Playground", and so on. I have no idea how much, if any, influence Waldron had on Wayne as a writer, but if nothng else, this tells me that Waldron at his most imaginative was indeed one of the more distinctive composers of his time, and not a little ahead of it as well.

"Warm Canto" has been duly noted by many posters as an exceptionally beautiful piece, and indeed it is. At once reflecting the relatively underexplored potential of the best of the earliest Chico Hamilton Quintets (rustiness on the clarinet aside, this piece must have provided Dolphy with a chance for a moment of musical looking-back that he seldom got), and, believe it or not, some of the more interesting moments that were going on behind Ken Nordine's Word Jazz, it nevertheless keeps from feeling anything less that totally of the moment, and you can give Charlie Persip's subtle driftings in and out of 12/8 all the credit for that you see fit! And hey - what's up with Waldron's very last chord? THAT's the kind of thing that makes me think of everything that just happened in a totally different context, and the only way to get that context is to go back and listen to the piece again, from the beginning, which I of course do. And do...

Chuck noted that this was the last album of Waldron's "first" career, and there could be no better forshadowing of Waldron's upcoming groove/trance work on Max Roach's SPEAK, BROTHER SPEAK! than " Warp and Woof ", but for my tastes, this is the "lull" (but only relatively speaking) of the album. Booker, who normally simultaneously breathes and spits fire on this kind of groove, seems hung for inspiration, Persip, who otherwise spends the album as Waldron's proofreader, making shure that EVERY nuance of the music is properly brought to our attention, makes me want to hear Max's perpetual butt-kicking, and the less said about Ron Carter here, the better (Chuck, I think he's only "safe" on cello when he doesn't bow! ).

But the darkest hour is just before the dawn, and this incarnation of "Fire Waltz" is a trip-and-a-half, what the results of the musical coupling of Nino Rota with Mingus may very well have returned. Dark? Yeah. Puckish? HELL yeah. Tailormade for Booker's patented wailing, sequential-induced dissonace through taking the express through the changes rather than the local and Dolphy's seriously wry/wryly serious/dare-you-to-decide-which-it-is way with a melody? HELL YEAH!!!

And -

The kind of album closer that makes you let the disc loop indefinitely so you can take this ride through this unique world one more time, one more time, one more time, one more time?

Damn straight it is.

[Soul Stream]

The Quest was available through e-music. Unfortunately, my credit card expired and they cancelled my subsription before I had a chance to download.(think I'll let my sub. expire )

Anyway, now that this Mal Waldron title is on my radar screen, thanks to Chuck. I am going to pick it up and will post my thoughts, albeit late, in the near future.

I am a little surprised myself that this AOW got so little action. Especially since it was picked by Chuck, obviously it's musical merit must be very high. I'm glad Jsngry had such a thougtful review. I really enjoyed it a lot.

Also, I'd REALLY like to hear Chuck's play by play of the album.

[paul secor]

A lot has been said about this record already - most of which I agree with - so I'll just add a few thoughts.

In some ways I find this to be a Charlie Persip album. He doesn't overwhelm the music, but I find his playing so inventive that I find myself listening to him as much as the front line musicians. His solo on "We Diddit" seems superfluous because his accompaniment throughout is more inventive than the solo. I heard him play with Archie Shepp in the late 70's, and I've always felt that he is one of the truly underrated musicians. (To be honest, when I think about great drummers, I sometimes tend to forget about him. He should never be forgotten.)

Eric Dolphy is amazing throughout. Enough said!

Mal Waldron seems somewhat subdued here, even though it's his date. He seems to be taking a back seat to the others on much of the record.

Booker Ervin shows his strengths and weaknesses here. His greatest strength is his sound. His weakness is that a couple of his solos sometimes come off as a series of not so well connected phrases strung together. I've never bought into the Martin Williams "music is logic" school of criticism (I know that's a simplification, but that's how I think of it), so I can hear his strength and appreciate that.

Fine compositions. My favorites are "Status Seeking",

"Warm Canto", and "Fire Waltz". It's interesting to compare this version of "Status Seeking" to the one from the live Five Spot sessions. The live version has always been tremendously exciting to me - like a runaway train or like Forego coming down the stretch. This version is more relaxed (though only in comparison to the other), perhaps because it's a studio recording.

I don't have anything to say about Ron Carter's playing other than I try to edit it out in my head when I listen. I don't understand why he was on this date. Did someone owe someone a favor or something?

Thanks for choosing this one, Chuck. Once again it gave me a reason to listen to a record after too long a time between listenings. (That's one of the drawbacks of having too many records.) It's a fine record!

[Clunky]

This is one of those albums that I have often though would be good to hear. However sloppy ZYX versions of other OJC CDs in the past always have made me wary. In too many the CD inserts are poorly printed on rough grade paper nad the CDs seem particulary flimsy. Pity really as this sounds like a must have.

[JohnS]

I didn't catch up with this album until the issue of the Prestige twofer "Fire Waltz" in 1978. Over the years its had a regular if occasional spin. It's pretty much a delight from start to finish. Warm Canto is a lovely chamber piece, exactly like it's title but Warp and Woof is my favourite track, tasty and relaxed.

Dolphy and Ervin work well togther and there is some very nice playing from Waldron both in solo and accompanying. Persip is superb, just right for the date. Listening now I think that Ron Carter's solos are superfluous adding little to the date, out of place or perhaps just dated. The rest easily stands the test of time.

Another great choice for AOTW.

[pryan]

A little late, I know, but I grabbed this one on Lp a few days ago. I plan on a first spin today or tommorow. Excited to hear this one - great line-up!

[Adam]

up because i still think this is in my top three of favorite jazz LPs