Artist: Mal Waldron
Album: Sweet Love, Bitter
Genre: Hard Bop
Label: Impulse!
Released: 1967
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
- Loser's Lament (Theme From "Sweet Love, Bitter") 05:13
- Della 02:40
- Hillary 02:25
- Espresso Time 02:11
- Keel 02:43
- Smokin' 02:09
- Della's Dream 02:25
- The Search 01:22
- Candy's Ride 01:20
- Bread 01:48
- Eagle's Flips Out 02:16
- Brindle's Place 02:19
- Sleep Baby Sleep 03:03
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- Personnel:
- Mal Waldron — piano
- Dave Burns — trumpet
- George Coleman — tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
- Charles Davis — baritone saxophone
- Richard Davis (tracks 1 & 4) George Duvivier (tracks 2, 3 & 5–13) — bass
- Al Dreares — drums
This Impulse LP is a soundtrack to an obscure movie from the late '60s, scored and performed by Mal Waldron. The film marked the acting debut of comedian Dick Gregory as a drug-addicted jazz musician at midlife on the decline, with Robert Hooks and Don Murray also in the cast. While the plot sounds a bit hackneyed, the music by Waldron is brilliant. Known for his lyrical yet often dark compositions, Waldron's work on this session will surprise some of his biggest fans. "Loser's Lament," the movie's theme, catches the bleak mood of the film perfectly. A trio feature, "Della's Dream," seems to have been inspired by Waldron's earlier composition "Fire Waltz." The brisk, hard bop-flavored "Hillary" and the swaggering "Espresso Time" showcase George Coleman on alto sax. Trumpeter Dave Burns, tenor saxophonist Charles Davis, bassists George Duvivier and Richard Davis, as well as drummer Alfred Dreares round out Waldron's tightly knit ensemble. Nat Hentoff's liner notes are excellent, though they focus more on the film than the music. Long out of print (though reissued on CD in Japan), this unusual record is well worth searching for.
Review by Ken Dryden