(1970) Spanish Bitch ****

 

With: Mal Waldron (piano), Isla Eckinger (bass), Fred Braceful (drums)
Recorded: September 18, 1970

One of the rarest LP’s in Waldron’s catalogue, Spanish Bitch is still a bit like the Holy Grail for Waldron fans. It was originally recorded for ECM but never released on that label. It was a Japan only release on the Globe label. On the cover it still says ECM. No idea why Eicher decided not to release this record as it is great and also pretty unique in Waldron’s discography.

For ‘Spanish Bitch’, Mal teams up again with the great and underrated Swiss bass player Isla Eckinger: a very tight and solid player who is able to play both ‘inside’ as ‘outside’. And when he goes outside he never goes too far. An excellent matching with Mal. Also joining is drummer Fred Braceful: an American drummer residing in Germany who was playing drums in multiple psychedelic and krautrock bands at the time. When Mal made his one and only fusion album in 1971 (The Call), he was joined again by Braceful. They probably knew each other from the scene: Mal already played with German krautrock band Embryo in the late 1960’s and was to make his first official record with them this very year. Braceful is a typical rock kinda player and he gives the album a different kind of pulse and sound with his slightly off beat playing.

The title song ‘Spanish Bitch’ is probably the most free jazz oriented playing Mal had recorded up till then. The song is introduced by a gentle theme, but when Eckinger and Braceful join, the playing gets more intense. Mal is experimenting with dissonance and playing on and off beat and he’s interacting with both Braceful and Eckinger a lot. Eckinger is experimenting with alternative sounds from his bass. The songs on this album are all more build on theme’s than the traditional jazz pattern of: main theme/impro/impro/impro/main theme. What also makes the album kind a special: Mal’s first recording of a pop song, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ by the Beatles. His version is nice and heavily blues based. Never knew that song had such a strong blues feel. One can immediately hear that Braceful feels at ease with the more rock oriented sounds on this song (and this album). Black Chant is starting with a dreamy like theme with nice bass backing by Isla Eckinger who gets plenty of space on this song. After that, playing gets more intense and intense. Mal probably play around 5 notes but still manages to keep his soloing part very interesting and hard grooving. Coming back at the theme again, Mal probably almost destroys his piano hitting the keys so hard. The final song ‘All That Funk’ shows again that Mal was heavily influenced by the funk and rock music of those days. Funky music fits in easily with Mal’s hard hitting touch and swing. And while there’s an experimental atmosphere this music still swings hard.

One has to pay a lot of money nowadays for this record. If you’re a true Mal Waldron fan, this record is essential and you should grab it as soon it’s around the 100 euros. When you just listen to him by accident, you’d probably want to spent you’re money in a different way. This is a great Waldron record, but not his best.

(1969) Free at Last ****1/2

 

With: Mal Waldron (piano), Isla Eckinger (bass), Clarence Becton (drums)
Record date: 25 November, 1969

Yeah, there it is! Mal’s first real classic recording, probably since his release of ‘The Quest’. I don’t know if sales were ever big enough to mark a Waldron album as a classic, but ‘Free at Last’ is definitely one of the better known records he made. It’s also the first since 1963 on a major label. But that major label, ECM, was just starting up in that year 1969. Free At Last was in fact the first release by the label in 1970. Mal never recorded for the label again after this one record. Although 'Spanish Bitch' was probably meant to be released on it.

It’s a great chance to hear the transition he made in great audio quality, playing with two not very well known but highly talented musicians. And that was something Mal has done quite a few times: he always surrounds himself with gifted musicians, sometimes well known but also quite a lot of time more obscure. Swiss born bassist Isla Eckinger has played with tons of musicians and made multiple appearances next to Waldron: both in the studio as in live gigs. He’s a bassist that fits perfectly with Mal’s rhythmic and percussive playing, dancing around his ideas, just like Jimmy Woode and Reggie Workman were able too. Eckinger gets plenty of space to show his skills on this record and he definitely deserves that space. Becton is a drummer who has appeared next to free jazz players like Burton Greene and Michael White, but also played more in the tradition with Benny Bailey and Dusko Goykovich. As Free At Last is also balancing between bop and the more free music he fits in perfectly, creating a solid base for this highly rhythmic music.

Opener ‘Rat Now’ is a classic Mal Waldron composition with it’s hard touch in the lower registers and the reaction with the right hand on that theme. It’s clear that Mal was inspired by the free jazz movement hearing tracks like these but this music is still quite structured. As Mal states himself in the liner notes: ‘free jazz to me does not mean anarchy or disorganized sound. In my vocabulary disorganized sound still means noise’. And that is perhaps what makes Mal such a great musician. He was able to look further, be innovative, create a whole new sound without losing himself in the urge to be innovative. The music he recorded on this record is truly a trademark for his style. It’s the first record where you could hear some of his definitive sound, although his development was still to continue.

Again, Mal plays mostly his own typical compositions. The uptempo, highly percussive Rat Now and Rock My Soul could be considered Mal classics although unfortunately most of these songs never appeared again on his records. This time there’s also a jazz standard: ‘Willow Weep for Me’ which is treated with warmth and has a very smooth feel overall. The album is well balanced trough-out with more tensed, up-tempo songs and beautiful ballads. And as with all of Mal’s music: this is pure emotional music, right from the heart, feeling only. This is Mal at his very best.

ECM is known for a certain sound, some like it and some don’t. I personally mostly appreciate it. But that typical ECM sound in not really yet hearable here on this album. As with most ECM albums, the sound quality is excellent. I own the Japanese SHM release of 2017 which is terrific. But this album has been reissued with bonus tracks on vinyl in 2019. The bonus tracks are definitely worth it to buy that reissue. If you don’t own this record yet, get it as soon as possible!