Mål

This is an unusual set by pianist Mal Waldron. He utilizes a sextet with trumpeter Art Farmer, flutist Eric Dixon, cellist Calo Scott, bassist Julian Euell and drummer Elvin Jones on three of his picturesque originals and his wife Elaine Waldron contributes vocals to the wordless "Portrait of a Young Mother" and Harold Arlen's "For Every Man There's a Woman." The music is not essential but holds one's interest throughout the straight CD reissue of the original LP.

Mal Waldron's recording debut as a leader presents the pianist with his many gifts already well developed. For the 1956 quartet date, he takes charge to strike a balance between the sound of a blowing session and the refinement of a more polished date. The spontaneity is there, but the set also benefits from Waldron's thoughtful charts. At this stage of his development, Waldron was a distinctive bop pianist whose occasional sputtering, knotty phrasing revealed the acknowledged influence of Thelonious Monk, as well as similarities with contemporaries Al Haig and Bud Powell. For this set, though, the focus is not on Waldron's playing, but on his ability to lead from the piano bench…

One of the best French progressive bands of all time IMHO who blended all the right elements. The music of ATOLL is complex, very elaborate and yet beautiful and delicate…

Si Dieu existe, d'où vient le mal ? S'il n'existe pas, d'où vient le bien? - Leibniz …

The second album from the Spanish singer is a remarkable feat, seamlessly linking flamenco’s characteristic melodrama to the heart-wrenching storytelling of modern, woman-flexing R&B.