SWEET LOVE, BITTER OST LP MAL WALDRON 1967 IMPULSE A-9142 MONO NM/NM

$

32

Record and cover are in near mint condition.  Cover has hole punched in lower left corner and very slight ring wear.  Record appears unplayed and looks new.  1967.  Impulse! A-9142 Mono. 

This Impulse LP is a soundtrack to an obscure movie from the late '60s, scored and performed by Mal Waldron. The film marked the acting debut of comedian Dick Gregory as a drug-addicted jazz musician at midlife on the decline, with Robert Hooks and Don Murray also in the cast. While the plot sounds a bit hackneyed, the music by Waldron is brilliant. Known for his lyrical yet often dark compositions, Waldron's work on this session will surprise some of his biggest fans. "Loser's Lament," the movie's theme, catches the bleak mood of the film perfectly. A trio feature, "Della's Dream," seems to have been inspired by Waldron's earlier composition "Fire Waltz." The brisk, hard bop-flavored "Hillary" and the swaggering "Espresso Time" showcase George Coleman on alto sax. Trumpeter Dave Burns, tenor saxophonist Charles Davis, bassists George Duvivier and Richard Davis, as well as drummer Alfred Dreares round out Waldron's tightly knit ensemble. Nat Hentoff's liner notes are excellent, though they focus more on the film than the music. Long out of print, this unusual record is well worth searching for.

TRACKS:

Loser's Lament / Della / Hillary / Espresso Time / Keel / Smokin'

Della's Dream / The Search / Cany's Ride / "Bread" / Eagle Flips Out / Brindle's Place / Sleep Baby Sleep

A pianist with a brooding, rhythmic, introverted style, Mal Waldron's playing has long been flexible enough to fit into both hard bop and freer settings. Influenced by Thelonious Monk's use of space, Waldron has had his own distinctive chord voicings nearly from the start. Early on, Waldron played jazz on alto and classical music on piano, but he switched permanently to jazz piano while at Queens College. He freelanced around New York in the early '50s with Ike Quebec (for whom he made his recording debut), Big Nick Nicholas, and a variety of R&B-ish groups. Waldron frequently worked with Charles Mingus from 1954-1956 and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist during her last two years (1957-1959). Often hired by Prestige to supervise recording sessions, Waldron contributed many originals (including "Soul Eyes," which became a standard) and basic arrangements that prevented spontaneous dates from becoming overly loose jam sessions. He has mostly led his own groups since Holiday's death, although he was part of the Eric Dolphy-Booker Little Quintet that was recorded extensively at the Five Spot in 1961, and also worked with Abbey Lincoln for a time during the era. He wrote three film scores (The Cool World, Three Bedrooms in Manhattan, and Sweet Love Bitter) before moving permanently to Europe in 1965, settling in Munich in 1967. Waldron, who has occasionally returned to the U.S. for visits, has long been a major force in the European jazz world. His album Free at Last was the first released by ECM, and his Black Glory was the fourth Enja album. Waldron, who frequently teamed up with Steve Lacy (often as a duet), kept quite busy up through the '90s, featuring a style that evolved but was certainly traceable to his earliest record dates. Among the many labels that have documented his music have been Prestige, New Jazz, Bethlehem, Impulse, Musica, Affinity, ECM, Futura, Nippon Phonogram, Enja, Freedom, Black Lion, Horo, Teichiku, Hat Art, Palo Alto, Eastwind, Baybridge, Paddle Wheel, Muse, Free Lance, Soul Note, Plainisphere, and Timeless. In September of 2002, Waldron was diagnosed with cancer. Remaining optimistic, he continued to tour until he passed away on December 2 in Brussels, Belgium at the age of 76.