Record date: June 18, 1981
Now, of course this music was initially released as two seperate releases: News - Run About Mal and Mal ’81. But the music was recorded on the same day in the same style with the same personnel. It’s probably because of that reason that it was released in 2015 by Progressive on a double cd that contained both sessions plus some bonus material. I’ve got that excellent release and will review both albums at once here.
In June 1981, Mal was back in the United States. New York to be precisely. It was his first of two visits that year. When he was in town, Progressive records decided to record him. Mal was free to pick his personnel and chose two high in demand musicians: George Mraz on bass and Al Foster on drums. The bassist was best known for his work in more contemporary circles like playing with Oscar Peterson. Al Foster of course for his drumming with the fusion groups of Miles Davis. Both very, very experienced and solid players.
What makes these sessions pretty special is that there is not a single Mal Waldron original on it. The repertoire contains standards only. And that is something pretty unusual for Mal. Of course he has always played a standard here and there but it was never his trademark. And to be honest: Mal plays his own work best. The standards chosen are pretty well known and there are some beauties among them. But if was a very safe choice of course.
Very safe but also very nice. Hearing Mal playing a set of standards with two excellent musicians is pretty refreshing. Of course it lacks the enormous tension, clusters, climaxes and dark atmosphere of most of his ’70’s work but one is not always in the mood for that. Sometimes you just want to relax and listen and this music is suited perfectly for that kinda mood!
Every standard is pretty recognizable and Mal does not really shape them into something new. He just plays and improvises on them in this familiar style. And even on a classic like ‘Summertime’ he still manages to be creative with probably 2 or 3 notes. What is also lovely is the easy interaction with both Mraz and Foster. Mraz is carefully and subtly exploring the changes while Foster gives easy and smooth back-up. Angel Eyes is a pretty clear example of that. Smooth and relaxed it is but there is to much going on to put this aside a background music. It’s like with Bill Evans’ music: though it sounds easy there is happening a lot.
Recorded in NYC by an American label but released only in Japan. It probably says a lot about popularity of jazz or Mal himself in the US. And it probably also declares why Mal rather liked to stay in Europe. I have no experience with the Japanese originals but they are pretty readily available on the web. I do recommend the US double cd with both of the sessions as merging them makes a lot of sense. These records are a very interesting look at yet another side of Mal.
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