The Mighty Warriors is a recording of a 1995 concert in Antwerp held in honour of Mal Waldron’s 70th birthday and released now for the first time. It features a combination of two of Waldron’s greatest groups – a duo with Steve Lacy, and a trio with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille – forming a quartet, which played for a week long European tour. They played a repertoire of originals by the band members and a couple of Thelonious Monk tunes. I was very excited to read that this recording was coming out (all four musicians are among my biggest musical heroes), and it more than lives up to expectations.
Waldron and Lacy had been working together for nearly forty years by the time of this recording, primarily as a duo as well as in each other’s groups. Both shared a deep love of Monk’s music, and developed a rigorously stripped down musical language. They were truly original improvisers and standout voices on their instruments.
You couldn’t hope for a greater bass and drums combination to accompany Waldron and Lacy than Workman and Cyrille. Two giants of the music, between them they had by this point worked with Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Mary Lou Williams, and Cecil Taylor among hundreds of others. They are both masters of the tradition while being constantly exploratory, forward-looking innovators. Deeply swinging, they combine beautifully in the quartet, and find space for delightfully playful extended solos.
The 2CD set is beautifully put together, with great sound, informative liner notes from Adam Shatz, reminiscences from Workman and Cyrille, and contributions from the likes of Evan Parker, David Virelles, and Dave Liebman. It might only be April as I write this, but this album is already a strong contender for release of the year.
Transferred from the original tapes (preserved by Patrick Wilen, son of legendary saxophonist Barney Wilen), Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors is presented as a 180-gram vinyl limited edition 2-LP set.
