''Free at Last'' is an album by American jazz pianist

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

recorded in 1969 and released on the

ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathematics ...

label.Mal Waldron discography
accessed February 22, 2011 The album was the first release on the influential European jazz label.

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

awarded the album 3 stars stating "The music overall is not that memorable or unique but it does have its unpredictable moments and finds Waldron really stretching himself."Yanow, S
Allmusic Review
accessed February 22, 2011 ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'', in its retrospective analysis of ECM's first 50 years, commented on the label's first release that: "It's doubtful that anyone who heard ''Free at Last'' in its day took particular notice of its fledgling label, but an unheeded message is still a message: We're on a different wavelength."

Track listing

:''All compositions by Mal Waldron except as indicated'' # "Rat Now" – 10:18 # "Balladina" – 5:05 # "1-3-234" – 4:05 # "Rock My Soul" – 11:23 # "

Willow Weep for Me "Willow Weep for Me" is a popular song composed in 1932 by Ann Ronell, who also wrote the lyrics. The song form is AABA, written in time,Zimmers, Tighe, E. (2009). ''Tin Pan Alley Girl: A Biography of Ann Ronell''. McFarland. pp. 19-22. altho ...

" (

Ann Ronell Ann Ronell (née Rosenblatt; December 25, 1905 — December 25, 1993) was an American composer and lyricist. She was best known for the standards "Willow Weep for Me" (1932) and "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" (1933). Early life Ronell was bor ...

) – 7:34 # "Boo" – 3:24 *Recorded at Studio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, West Germany on November 24, 1969.

Personnel

* Mal Waldron – piano *

Isla Eckinger Isla or ISLA may refer to: Organizations * International Securities Lending Association, a trade association * International School of Los Angeles * International Bilingual School, later named International School of Los Angeles People * Isla ( ...

– bass *

Clarence Becton Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a lo ...

– drums

References

{{Authority control Mal Waldron albums 1970 albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher ECM Records albums