AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Craft Original Jazz Classics / Prestige PRLP 7111 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl
Mastered by Kevin Gray
AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition - RTI
if you love Mal Waldron and John Coltrane’s playing, this new Craft OJC edition of Mal Waldron Sextet’s Mal/2 is an important and fine-sounding release well worth picking up and adding to your collection. ’Nuff said. - Sound 9/10 Analogue Planet
Fans of Mal will find lots to like here, and the opportunity to hear Waldron in remastered pristine mono sound, backed by stars of the day is well worth checking out. -Audiophile
Craft Recordings Original Jazz Classics Series!
All-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI! Presented in tip-on jackets with OBI strip
Originally released in 1957, Mal Waldron's Mal/2 album features some of jazz music's biggest names. Joining Mal Waldron (piano) are John Coltrane (tenor sax), Idrees Sulieman (trumpet) and Ed Thigpen (drums) among others.
Pianist Mal Waldron (1925–2002) was a prolific composer, arranger and musician, who released more than 100 albums as a leader (including numerous film scores) during his five-decade-long career. Revered for his versatility and blues-forward, innovative stylings, Waldron also served as the house pianist at Prestige Records and was an in-demand accompanist who played for Billie Holiday and Abbey Lincoln and served as a sideman for Charles Mingus, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, among others.
In 1957, Waldron was ready to break out on his own with Mal/1 and, several months later, Mal/2. While his debut was well received, Mal/2 found the pianist taking his work to the next level—and recruiting some of the era’s most exciting musicians. In addition to trumpeter Idrees Sulieman and bassist Julian Euell (who both appeared on Mal/1), Waldron was joined by rising star John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), who had recently recorded his own debut as a leader. Also splitting duties on horns were Sahib Shihab (alto/baritone sax), Jackie McLean (alto sax) and Bill Hardman (trumpet), while drums were handled by Ed Thigpen and Art Taylor.
In a variety of sextet settings, the musicians nimbly perform Waldron originals (the moody “One by One,” the energetic “Potpourri” and “J.M.’s Dream Doll,” named for McLean, who delivers a standout solo) and standards, including Cole Porter’s joyful classic “From This Moment On” and Fields/Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight.” A bluesy, hard-bop gem in Waldron’s extensive catalog, this long out-of-print classic was hailed as “a cut above” its contemporaries by AllMusic, which also praised its “engaging and original…arrangements.”
From This Moment On
J.M.'s Dream Doll
The Way You Look Tonight
One By One
Don't Explain
Potpourri
Mal Waldron (Piano)
Jackie McLean (Alto Saxophone)
John Coltrane (Tenor Saxophone)
Idrees Sulieman (Trumpet )
Sahib Shihab (Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone)
Bill Hardman (Trumpet)
