Mal Waldron - Free at Last / SHM-CD

2016 Japanese SHM-CD reissue.

In his excellent blog, Ethan Iverson comments that on Free At Last, “everything is reduced to the drone and the riff. [Waldron’s] touch has gotten more secure and elemental… [He] wouldn’t really develop further until his death in 2002.” However, Iverson continues, “The band … is more on the B-team side, with Waldron having the best time of anyone present.”

That’s a little harsh on Swiss bassist Isla Eckinger, with whom Waldron frequently performed, and drummer Clarence Becton, who I think make up an excellent team, if not quite in the first rank.
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Waldron is a rare example of a minimalist in jazz [excepting the Scandinavian legions – Ed], and his work continues to intrigue. Chris Abrahams of The Necks was deeply influenced by him. “There’s a hypnotic dimension”, he commented when I interviewed him recently. “He appeared to latch on to a phrase and work it, so that it almost hovered away from the rhythm section.” As Iverson memorably put it, “A short stutter of melody will fit anything: any harmony, any place in the beat, any tune.”

In his liner notes, Waldron described Free At Last as “My meeting with free jazz. Free jazz for me does not mean complete anarchy… You will hear me playing rhythmically instead of soloing on chord changes.” It’s groove-based and so not free in that sense; “playing rhythmically” refers to Waldron’s minimal style. The compositions are chord-based, but simple – mostly hard-driving, bluesy and modal.

The album was the very first ECM session, recorded in 1969. It was the first of three Waldron albums recorded by ECM during 1969-1971, the others being Spanish Bitch with Eberhard Weber, and The Call with the same trio as Free At Last.

https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2020/06/22/mal-waldron-trio-free-at-last-extended-edition/