American pianist Mal Waldron played as house pianist of
Prestige Records with such big names as
John Coltrane,
Jackie McLean and
Eric Dolphy. In addition, he was the regular pianist for
Billie Holiday. After a drug-related breakdown, he turned his back on America in 1965 and Waldron lived primarily in Munich where he further developed his poetic and highly rhythmic piano style and made numerous
… albums with equally American and European musicians. In addition, he maintained a separate career in Japan, where he also married. Many albums he recorded there were never distributed in the rest of the world. Like Reminicent Suite, which Waldron recorded in 1972 in Aoyama with the young Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino and a Japanese band. What a revelation this is more than 50 years later, gratefully (re)released by British boutique label BBE. In two long suites, Waldron manages to inspire the young Japanese band with economical but imploringly dark playing that is abstract but never completely free. An exciting and brooding atmosphere is nowhere released, making Reminicent Suite almost a preliminary study of Waldron's pièce de résistance Up Popped The Devil, which he recorded a year later with Reggie Workman and Billy Higgins. (MR)more
