With: Koshuke Mine (alto saxophone on track A1 and A2), Mal Waldron (piano), Masabumi Kikuchi (piano on C1 and C2), Isao Suzuki (bass A1 to B2), Yoshiyuki Nakamura (drums A1 to B2)
Record date: March 2 and 3, 1971
This album captures Mal live in 4 different settings: the A side contains a quartet, the B side a trio, side C is a piano duet and side D is Mal solo on piano. Hence the title 4 to 1. The music was also released as ‘Left Alone- Live 1’ on Fontana (side A and B) and ‘All Alone - Live 2’, also on Fontana (side C and D).
Let’s start with the quartet on side A. Saxophonist Koshuke Mine clearly plays at the top of his abilities but those abilities do not reach very far. On ‘Left Alone’ he’s okay, playing a fine and balanced solo. His tone lacks character a bit. On ‘Straight No Chaser’ the lack of technique also shows up. He plays with pretty much the same ideas all over again and fails to impress or sound original. He reminds me a bit of myself when I was playing alto saxophone, focussing heavily on blues scales. Bassist Isao Suzuki sounds more promising. He swings and gives Mal some great support. Yet there is not much space for him nor the drummer to stretch out. Mal plays an okay but not very inspiring solo.
Side B is more interesting. The trio starts with a very strong perfomance of the Mal original ‘Right On’ which was first to be heard on Mal’s solo record ‘The Opening’ from the previous year. After playing fascinating theme the band goes into hard swinging postbop territory. Both Suzuki and Nakamura play their butt of and show they know how to play. Suzuki’s solo in inspiring, daring to leave traditional bop scales and showing he knows what was going on in jazz land in those years. And the same is to be said for the drummer. Surprisingly good! ‘Thoughts’ is from that year’s record ‘The Call’. In the acoustic version it’s just as a fascinating composition as on ‘The Call’ where it’s played on an electric piano. The version here has of course a more jazzy than fusion feel. Again the chemistry between the band members is clearly present and their interaction is lovely, slowly building up to a climax, then slowly fading away.
Side C is a piano duo with Japanese piano player Masabumi Kikuchi. Mal is in the left channel, Kikuchi in the right. The piano duo is a fascinating form and really demands from both players that they listen closely to each other. When the chemistry is there, it could turn into a fascination soundscape. The opener ‘Little Abi’ is a beautiful and subtle ballad where both pianist do exactly what’s needed: they listen to each other, not missing a single piece of what the other is doing. This is beautiful, classic and stunning Mal. One of those ballads that would be on a ‘Most Beautiful Songs By’ compilation. Unfortunately there’s no such compilation but I would love to make one! The following ‘Blood and Guts’ is less sweet and subtle of course. Interesting to hear that Kikuchi and Waldron have split the pieces they play. Hearing the theme it sometimes sounds like 1 pianist. After it Kikuchi starts with his solo which is pretty good, copying ideas by Waldron but staying close enough to his own. His mumbling makes one think Keith Jarrett is also present in the building….
Closing up are the solo sessions on side D. Mal always plays nice, but when he goes solo he plays his own originals best. He sticks to standards here (part from ‘All Alone’) and they just sound ok, no more no less. He sounds a bit uninspired, as he does mostly when he plays standards solo. The closing ‘All Alone’ is beautifully chosen to close the concert. This remains one of his most beautiful compositions. It’s mostly written down music, but it’s beautiful in any version he played.
All in all, this record is bit of mixed bag. Some of the sessions are ok, some are good but none are truly essential. When you want to buy this you’ve got plenty of choice. I would not recommend the separate Fontana’s as they really not sound very well. I don’t know about the separate Philips releases of Left Alone and All Alone. I do know that both the Phillips Mal Live 4 To 1 from 1971 and 1979 sound very good and are available for around 40 euros which is not bad for a double LP gatefold. Liners are of course in Japanese. I would not recommend the expensive and rare cd version as it misses two songs: Straight no Chaser and Willow Weep for Me. They should definitely have chosen for a double CD version and include all the tracks. I hate half a sessions.
This album captures Mal live in 4 different settings: the A side contains a quartet, the B side a trio, side C is a piano duet and side D is Mal solo on piano. Hence the title 4 to 1. The music was also released as ‘Left Alone- Live 1’ on Fontana (side A and B) and ‘All Alone - Live 2’, also on Fontana (side C and D).
Let’s start with the quartet on side A. Saxophonist Koshuke Mine clearly plays at the top of his abilities but those abilities do not reach very far. On ‘Left Alone’ he’s okay, playing a fine and balanced solo. His tone lacks character a bit. On ‘Straight No Chaser’ the lack of technique also shows up. He plays with pretty much the same ideas all over again and fails to impress or sound original. He reminds me a bit of myself when I was playing alto saxophone, focussing heavily on blues scales. Bassist Isao Suzuki sounds more promising. He swings and gives Mal some great support. Yet there is not much space for him nor the drummer to stretch out. Mal plays an okay but not very inspiring solo.
Side B is more interesting. The trio starts with a very strong perfomance of the Mal original ‘Right On’ which was first to be heard on Mal’s solo record ‘The Opening’ from the previous year. After playing fascinating theme the band goes into hard swinging postbop territory. Both Suzuki and Nakamura play their butt of and show they know how to play. Suzuki’s solo in inspiring, daring to leave traditional bop scales and showing he knows what was going on in jazz land in those years. And the same is to be said for the drummer. Surprisingly good! ‘Thoughts’ is from that year’s record ‘The Call’. In the acoustic version it’s just as a fascinating composition as on ‘The Call’ where it’s played on an electric piano. The version here has of course a more jazzy than fusion feel. Again the chemistry between the band members is clearly present and their interaction is lovely, slowly building up to a climax, then slowly fading away.
Side C is a piano duo with Japanese piano player Masabumi Kikuchi. Mal is in the left channel, Kikuchi in the right. The piano duo is a fascinating form and really demands from both players that they listen closely to each other. When the chemistry is there, it could turn into a fascination soundscape. The opener ‘Little Abi’ is a beautiful and subtle ballad where both pianist do exactly what’s needed: they listen to each other, not missing a single piece of what the other is doing. This is beautiful, classic and stunning Mal. One of those ballads that would be on a ‘Most Beautiful Songs By’ compilation. Unfortunately there’s no such compilation but I would love to make one! The following ‘Blood and Guts’ is less sweet and subtle of course. Interesting to hear that Kikuchi and Waldron have split the pieces they play. Hearing the theme it sometimes sounds like 1 pianist. After it Kikuchi starts with his solo which is pretty good, copying ideas by Waldron but staying close enough to his own. His mumbling makes one think Keith Jarrett is also present in the building….
Closing up are the solo sessions on side D. Mal always plays nice, but when he goes solo he plays his own originals best. He sticks to standards here (part from ‘All Alone’) and they just sound ok, no more no less. He sounds a bit uninspired, as he does mostly when he plays standards solo. The closing ‘All Alone’ is beautifully chosen to close the concert. This remains one of his most beautiful compositions. It’s mostly written down music, but it’s beautiful in any version he played.
All in all, this record is bit of mixed bag. Some of the sessions are ok, some are good but none are truly essential. When you want to buy this you’ve got plenty of choice. I would not recommend the separate Fontana’s as they really not sound very well. I don’t know about the separate Philips releases of Left Alone and All Alone. I do know that both the Phillips Mal Live 4 To 1 from 1971 and 1979 sound very good and are available for around 40 euros which is not bad for a double LP gatefold. Liners are of course in Japanese. I would not recommend the expensive and rare cd version as it misses two songs: Straight no Chaser and Willow Weep for Me. They should definitely have chosen for a double CD version and include all the tracks. I hate half a sessions.
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