Recordings 1956-1957

Recordings 1956-1957

• Shrink-wrapped

Mal Waldron made his professional debut as a jazz musician alongside Ike Quebec in New York in 1952. The pair began a six month Monday night residency at the city's Cafe Society Downtown club , a gig which greatly increasing the profile of the young pianist. With offers of work now coming in more frequently, Waldron joined the band of Charles Mingus, making his recording debut on Jazz Composers Workshop and holding his position in the band for the next two years. He would appear on some of Mingus' most important albums, including the 1956 release Pithecanthropus Erectus, a post-bop masterpiece that was considered one of the most vital works in the creation of freer forms of jazz. Around this time he also formed his own band consisting of Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, Gigi Gryce on alto saxophone, bassist Julian Euell and drummer Arthur Edgehill, with whom he released his first album as bandleader, Mal-1. Having been introduced to Prestige by former colleague Jackie McLean, Waldron would become the label's house pianist and appear on numerous recordings in the Prestige All Stars series, a sequence of albums featuring other jazz greats signed to the label, including John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. The series would include the album Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors, which contained the first recording of 'Soul Eyes,' Waldron's most famous composition which would go on to become a jazz standard. 1957 would also see the release of Waldron's second albums as bandleader, Mal/2, which received much critical acclaim; the album featured appearances from John Coltrane, Jackie McLean and Art Taylor.