Mal/2 Prestige 7111

by Stephen CookBefore becoming an expatriate in 1965 and eventually settling in Munich, pianist Mal Waldron cut several stateside hard bop albums full of his idiosyncratic and Monk-ish piano work, and featuring choice contributions by some of the music's finest. For this 1957 date, Waldron worked with a stellar sextet interchangeably manned by John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Idrees Sulieman, Art Taylor, and others. Bookended by the pianist's ebullient "Potpourri" and the avant-noir blues "One by One," the set also includes a fetching cover of Cole Porter's "From This Moment On" and a beautifully complex arrangement of Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain." (Waldron was Holiday's accompanist for the last two years of the singer's life until her death in 1959.) Solo highlights include McLean's keenly constructed solo on Waldron's "J.M.'s Dream Doll" (dedicated to the alto saxophonist and his wife) and Sulieman's incredibly rich and supple trumpet work on "One by One." For his part, Coltrane is in good form throughout, save for a few sour notes and some faltering solos; at this time Coltrane was still coming into his own and a few years shy of the masterful hard bop sides he would record for Atlantic. Waldron here leads a potent crew on an engaging and original set of arrangements. A cut above many of the relatively straightforward and blues-based hard bop dates of the time.