Mal Waldron - Mal/2: Mal Waldron Sextets with John Coltrane

1991 CD reissue.

Respected by his peers as one of the most original musical thinkers in jazz, Mal Waldron had no trouble recruiting some of the best players of the day when he undertook a series of recording sessions for Prestige in the late 1950s. For Mal-2’s two dates, Waldron included saxophonists John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, and Sahib Shihab, trumpeters Bill Hardman and Idrees Sulieman, drummers Ed Thigpen and Arthur Taylor, and bassist Julian Euell. They provided the depth and passion needed to interpret Waldron’s approach. As her accompanist during this period, Waldron had Billie Holiday very much on his mind, and the album includes a version of Lady Day’s “Don’t Explain” that captures the mood of her final years.