Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Lou Bennett was born May 18, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and first learned to play the piano before switching to the organ. It wasn’t until hearing Jimmy Smith play, that Bennett chose to stop playing bebop piano and make this instrument his professional calling.
Lou toured the U.S. with an organ trio between 1957 and 1959, and then moved to Paris in 1960. There he recorded and performed at the Blue Note with Jimmy Gourley, Kenny Clarke, Philip Catherine, Franco Manzecchi and Rene Thomas. He returned to America only once, for the 1964 Newport Jazz Festival.
By the 1980s he played in his own quintet and during this period toured extensively throughout Spain. As a leader he recorded twelve albums for RCA, Impulse, BelAir, Fonatana, Vogue and other labels into the Nineties. Jazz organist Lou Bennett passed away on February 10, 1997 in Paris, France.
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Requisites
Left Alone ~ The Mal Waldron Trio | By Eddie Carter
This morning’s album from the library is Mal Waldron, a jazz pianist, arranger, and composer who’s recording a dedication to Billie Holiday, Left Alone (Bethlehem Records (BCP 6045/BS 6045). Mal was born in New York City on August 16, 1925. Mal began his professional career after graduating from college in 1950. As the house pianist for Prestige Records, he appeared on numerous recordings and contributed compositions. He also performed with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Jackie McLean and Charles Mingus. Waldron worked with several vocalists and was Billie Holiday’s pianist from April 1957 until her passing in July 1959. On this 1960 release, he’s joined by Jackie McLean on alto saxophone (track: A1); Julian Euell on bass; and Al Dreares on drums. The copy I own is the 1981 Japanese Stereo reissue (Trio Records PAP-23001).
The title tune, Left Alone by Billie Holiday and Mal Waldron, opens the album with a solemn introduction by the pianist, leading to Jackie’s entrance to deliver the melancholy theme. Mal leads off with a delicately tender performance, then Jackie responds with a reading conveying beauty and elegance, before the quartet’s affectionate closing chorus ends softly. Catwalk is a Mal Waldron creation, and Julian makes the initial introduction, segueing into the group’s melody. Waldron has the first say and gives a tasty treat, then Euell takes a delightful walk in the following solo. The pianist concludes the solos with a final thought before restating the theme into a soft finish.
The tempo slows down for the trio’s introduction to You Don’t Know What Love Is by Gene de Paul and Don Raye. Mal sketches a lengthy musical portrait as the song’s only soloist with a delicate touch, solidified by Julian’s and Al’s accompaniment ahead of an immensely satisfying finale. Another Mal Waldron original, Minor Pulsation, gets the second side started with a two-instrument conversation between piano and drums that leads into the lively theme. Waldron takes the wheel first and drives the opening solo aggressively. Dreares gets his first solo opportunity and fuels the finale with uptempo precision preceding the group’s return to take the song out the way it began.
The threesome tackles a swinging rendition of Sonny Rollins’ Airegin next. A solo introduction by the pianist leads tothe trio’s melody. Waldron goes first again and gives a vigorous presentation, then Euell follows with a jaunty walk in the second statement. The pianist and drummer share the song’s final spotlight in a spirited exchange of ideas before the ensemble’s brisk finale takes it out. The album closes with Mal Waldron sharing a heartfelt, reflective and tender remembrance of Billie Holiday, offering a glimpse of what she was really like to work with. Teddy Charles produced Left Alone, and Peter In was behind the dials of the recording console.
The album’s sound quality is excellent, possessing a gorgeous soundstage that draws the listener into the music. Mal Waldron, renowned for his contributions as a jazz pianist and composer, built an extensive discography over five decades. Between 1952 and 2002, he released over 100 albums as a bandleader and appeared on more than 80 recordings as a supporting musician. His creative output also includes film soundtrack compositions. If you appreciate jazz piano, I highly recommend checking out Left Alone by the Mal Waldron Trio the next time you’re searching for new music at your favorite record shop. It’s a thoughtful and captivating work from an exceptionally gifted and versatile artist, making it a worthy addition to any jazz library!
p>~ You Don’t Know What Love Is – Source: JazzStandards.com ~ Left Alone – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2026 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Roland was born May 17, 1920 in New York City and began as a clarinetist, attending the Institute of Musical Art (The Juilliard School) from 1937 to 1939. He started playing the xylophone in 1940 and then the vibraphone in the middle of the decade, playing in the New York jazz clubs. Influenced by the nascent bebop movement, Roland put together his own ensembles late in the decade.
By the 1950s he was playing with Oscar Pettiford, George Shearing, Howard McGhee, Mat Mathews, Aaron Sachs, and with Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five alongside Hank Jones, Tal Farlow, and Tommy Potter. Mat Mathews and Aaron Sachs. Roland recorded occasionally as a leader releasing albums for Rainbow, Savoy, Seeco and Bethlehem records.
In the early sixties Joe moved to Miami Florida and became an influential part of a thriving South Florida jazz scene. While working the Coconut Grove he was credited for having trained many young musicians from the University of Miami. Vibraphonist Joe Roland would work steadfastly throughout his life until his death of natural causes at the age of 89 in Jupiter, Florida on October 12, 2009.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eddie Bert was born May 16, 1922 in Yonkers, New York and learned to lay the trombone as a child. Among his early teachers were Benny Morton and Trummy Young and by age 18 he was a member of the Sam Donahue Orchestra.
Bert would leave Donahue and join up with Red Norvo in 1941, cutting his first recorded solo on Jersey Bounce. Through the Forties he played with the bands of Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Herbie Fields, Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton, rejoining Norvo for the legendary Town Hall concert. By the Fifties he was performing briefly again with Stan Kenton before becoming a leader and recording for Discovery, Savoy, Jazztone and Trans-world record labels.
He has performed and recorded with Charles Mingus, various Miles Davis/Gil Evans projects, Thelonious Monks big bands, and was a part of the Dick Cavett TV big band in the Sixties. He has toured Europe with the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Orchestra, recorded for several obscure labels, worked extensively as a sideman with Michel Legrand, Nat Pierce, Stan Getz, Gene Harris, Ken Peplowski, Loren Schoenberg and others. When performing, trombonist Eddie Bert continuously played to sold-out shows.
Eddie received a Musician of the Year award from Metronome magazine, a Grammy for Musician of the Year, Jazz at the Kennedy Center honors and is inducted into the Rugers University Jazz Hall of Fame.
Trombonist Eddie Bert, whose photography can be seen on Jazz Giants, To Bird With Love (Chan Parker and F. Pandras) and The Band That Never Was (Spotlight Records album cover and liner notes), passed away on September 27, 2012 at age 90 in Danbury, Connecticut.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Gordon was born Joseph Henry Gordon on May 15, 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts and took up trumpet in his youth. His first professional gigs were in Boston in 1947 and he would later play with Georgie Auld, Charlie Mariano, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey and Don Redman into the mid Fifties.
In 1956 he toured the Middle East with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band soloing on “A Night In Tunisia”. Following this Gordon played with Horace Silver and then moved to Los Angeles. During his California stay over the next five years he recorded with Barney Kessel, Benny Carter, Harold Land, Shelly Manne, Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon and Thelonious Monk.
Trumpeter Joe Gordon would record two studio sessions and one live album as a leader prior to his death in a house fire on November 4, 1963 in Santa Monica, California.
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