sam rivers and mal waldron mestre 1984

[giaz63]

caligola records(digital only) has this 1984 concert by Sam Rivers and Mal Waldron

https://www.caligola.it/shop/MAL-WALDRON-&-SAM-RIVERS-Live-in-Mestre-Venezia-1984-files-wav-covers-jpeg-booklet-pdf-p799438283

 

[Pim]

Just streamed it trough Spotify and it’s just as dissapointing as I expected. That starts with the bad audio quality. For an 80’s recording this sound really bad. Than it’s the repertoire played here: if they had chosen originals this could have been fire. With these standards they just play nicely. But it’s nothing more than standards played nicely. 

[giaz63]

It's more of a testimony or curiosity within the discography of the two artists. I believe it was an impromptu meeting organized at the last minute.

[Pim]

7 hours ago, giaz63 said:

It's more of a testimony or curiosity within the discography of the two artists. I believe it was an impromptu meeting organized at the last minute.

It could definitely have worked out with some more preparation. I think Rivers’ more aggressive free approach would work pretty well with Mals dark clusters 

[Guy Berger]

9 hours ago, Pim said:

It could definitely have worked out with some more preparation. I think Rivers’ more aggressive free approach would work pretty well with Mals dark clusters 

Agreed!  Capricorn Rising (Rivers with Pullen) teases out how that might have worked

[clifford_thornton]

34 minutes ago, Guy Berger said:

Agreed!  Capricorn Rising (Rivers with Pullen) teases out how that might have worked

that would have been really interesting...

[Pim]

3 hours ago, Guy Berger said:

Agreed!  Capricorn Rising (Rivers with Pullen) teases out how that might have worked

Oh yes I could see the comparison with that. That’s a great record.

[giaz63]

According to Rick Lopez's sessionography, the Rivers-Waldron duo played another week in Italy and France. The program on other occasions also consisted mainly of standards, except for some long pieces listed in the sessionography as "Improvisation" with Sam Rivers on flute or soprano. Perhaps the most interesting pieces were left out of Caligola. The following week, Rivers played in London with Abdullah Ibrahim, replacing Max Roach; an audio file of this also exists. It's a shame that neither Waldron nor the South African pianist considered a studio recording.

[carville]

On 3/12/2026 at 1:46 AM, Pim said:

Just streamed it trough Spotify and it’s just as dissapointing as I expected. That starts with the bad audio quality. For an 80’s recording this sound really bad. Than it’s the repertoire played here: if they had chosen originals this could have been fire. With these standards they just play nicely. But it’s nothing more than standards played nicely. 

Agree. Checked it out this morning.

 

I just transferred an audience tape to digital yesterday. Fine playing, but no real fire. Ballads and mellow improvisations. What could have been...

 

Mal Waldron and Sam Rivers
Club Dunois
Paris, France
19 February 1984

1st set
1 improvisation > Come Rain or Come Shine 37:09
2 I Thought About You 9:13 (cuts off)

2nd set
3 improvisation 21:52
4 12:15
5 My Funny Valentine 11:46