Before 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
"Don't Explain."
(
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
"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
was still coming into his own and a few years shy of the masterful hard bop sides he would record for
Atlantic
.
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. ~ Stephen Cook