Mal Waldron - The Recordings: 1956-1957 (2017)

EIGHT COMPLETE ALBUMS FROM JAZZ GENIUS EARLY CAREER American jazz pianist, composer and arranger Mal Waldron, famed for his unique playing style that developed across his lifetime and which made heavy use of added chords, passing notes and altered harmonies, was responsible for a quite staggering musical output across his 50-year career. Recording over 100 albums with his own groups and another 70 more on which he appeared alongside other jazz greats such as Charles Mingus, Jackie McClean, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, his influence laid firmly in the hard bop and post-bop idioms, touching on free jazz later in his life. This four disc boxed set, featuring in total eight classic albums, is the perfect introduction to this highly-praised and much-recorded artist. Containing his debut and sophomore releases as bandleader alongside the first half dozen recordings from The Prestige All Stars, faithfully remastered to the highest possible quality, this compilation provides a fascinating insight into a musician who would become a pivotal figure in the amorphous and ever-changing face of late 1950s jazz.