Left Alone (Mal Waldron album)

"Left Alone" is Waldron's signature song. He released an album of a similar title, Left Alone Live 1 (Fontana Records). It was recorded in Japan in 1971 and features Isao Suzuki (b) / Yoshiyuki Nakamura (dms) / Kohsuke Mine (A Sax). West 54 Records released the album on LP in 1980 as Left Alone: Mal Waldron Live.

The tracks "Left Alone" and "Catwalk" were released as two sides of a single; both were given four-star reviews by Billboard.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars, stating: "Although Waldron dedicated the album to Lady Day and talks about her a bit on the last track in a short interview with vibraphonist Teddy Charles (which was recorded a bit later), he actually only performs one song from her repertoire... McLean's emotional alto is such a strong asset on the title cut that one wishes he were on the rest of this worthwhile set."

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Track listing

All compositions by Mal Waldron except as indicated

"Left Alone" (Billie Holiday, Mal Waldron) – 6:06
"Catwalk" (Mal Waldron) – 6:56
"You Don't Know What Love Is" (Gene de Paul, Don Raye) – 5:52
"Minor Pulsation" (Mal Waldron) – 8:14
"Airegin" (Sonny Rollins) – 7:11
Mal Waldron Interview: The Way He Remembers Billie Holiday – 4:09

Recorded in New York City on February 24, 1959.

Personnel

Mal Waldron – piano
Jackie McLean – alto saxophone (track 1)
Julian Euell – bass
Al Dreares – drums

References

Mal Waldron discography accessed February 21, 2011
"Mal Waldron - Left Alone (1960, Vinyl) on Discogs".
"Jazz" (February 20, 1961) Billboard, p. 34.
^ Yanow, S. Allmusic Review, accessed February 21, 2011.

v t e Mal Waldron
Year(s) indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Mal-1 (1956) Mal/2 (1957) The Dealers (1957) Mal/3: Sounds (1958) Just Wailin' (1958) Mal/4: Trio (1958) Left Alone (1959) Impressions (1959) The Quest (1961) Sweet Love, Bitter (1967) Ursula (1969) Free at Last (1969) Tokyo Bound (1970) Tokyo Reverie (1970) Blood and Guts (1970) Spanish Bitch (1970 The Opening (1970) Mal: Live 4 to 1 (1970) The Call (1971) First Encounter (1971) Number Nineteen (1971) Black Glory (1971) Mal Waldron Plays the Blues (1971) Signals (1971) Journey Without End (1971) Blues for Lady Day (1972) A Little Bit of Miles (1972) Jazz a Confronto 19 (1972) A Touch of the Blues (1972) Mal Waldron on Steinway (1972) Mal Waldron with the Steve Lacy Quintet (1972) The Whirling Dervish (1972) Meditations (1972) Up Popped the Devil (1973) Hard Talk (1974) Moods (1977) Mingus Lives (1979) Mal 81 (1981) Live at Dreher, Paris 1981 (1981) What It Is (1981) One Entrance, Many Exits (1982) In Retrospect (1982) Breaking New Ground (1983) Mal Waldron Plays Eric Satie (1983) You and the Night and the Music (1983) Encounters (1984) Dedication (1985) Sempre Amore (1986) Left Alone '86 (1986) Update (1986) The Git Go – Live at the Village Vanguard (1986) The Seagulls of Kristiansund (1986) Our Colline's a Treasure (1987) Remembering the Moment (1987) The Super Quartet Live at Sweet Basil (1987) Mal, Dance and Soul (1987) Evidence (1988) Art of the Duo (1988) No More Tears (For Lady Day) (1988) Crowd Scene (1989) Where Are You? (1989) Quadrologue at Utopia (1989) More Git' Go at Utopia (1989) Spring in Prague (1990) Hot House (1990) I Remember Thelonious (1992) My Dear Family (1993) Waldron-Haslam (1994) After Hours (1994) Communiqué (1994) Mal, Verve, Black & Blue (1994) Two New (1995) Silence (with David Murray, 2001)
With Gene Ammons	Jammin' with Gene (1956) Funky (1957) Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons (1957) The Big Sound (1958) Groove Blues (1958) Velvet Soul (1962) Angel Eyes (1962) Sock! (1962)
With Jackie McLean	4, 5 and 6 (1956) Jackie's Pal (1956) Jackie McLean & Co. (1957) Makin' the Changes (1957) A Long Drink of the Blues (1957) Strange Blues (1957) McLean's Scene (1957)
With Charles Mingus	Jazz Composers Workshop (1954) Mingus at the Bohemia (1955) The Charles Mingus Quintet & Max Roach (1955) Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) Blues & Roots (1959)
With the Prestige All Stars	Baritones and French Horns (aka, Dakar, 1957) Four Altos (1957) Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors (1957) The Prestige Jazz Quartet (1957) Wheelin' & Dealin' (1957)
With others	All Night Long (Kenny Burrell, 1956) Earthy (Kenny Burrell, 1957) 2 Guitars (Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Raney, 1957) Where? (Ron Carter, 1961) The Teddy Charles Tentet (1956) Coolin' (Teddy Charles, 1957) Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette (John Coltrane & Paul Quinichette, 1957) Coltrane (1957) Dakar (John Coltrane, Pepper Adams & Cecil Payne, 1957) At the Five Spot (Eric Dolphy, both volumes, 1961) Tuba Sounds (Ray Draper, 1957) Hornful of Soul (aka, Catwalk, Bennie Green, 1960) Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport (1957) Lady in Satin (Billie Holiday, 1958) So Warm (Etta Jones, 1961) After Hours (Thad Jones, 1957) Olio (Thad Jones, 1957) Reflections: Steve Lacy Plays Thelonious Monk (1958) Straight Ahead (Abbey Lincoln, 1961) Teo (Teo Macero, 1957) On the Sunny Side (Paul Quinichette, 1957) Percussion Bitter Sweet (Max Roach, 1961) It's Time (Max Roach, 1962) Speak, Brother, Speak! (Max Roach, 1962) For Lady (Webster Young, 1957)

v t e Jackie McLean
Year(s) indicated are for the recording(s), not first release, except for the compilation section.
As leader or co-leader	Presenting... Jackie McLean (1955) Lights Out! (1956) 4, 5 and 6 (1956) Jackie's Pal (1956) McLean's Scene (1957–59) Jackie McLean & Co. (1957) Makin' the Changes (1957) A Long Drink of the Blues (1957) Strange Blues (1957) Alto Madness (1957) Fat Jazz (1957) Jackie's Bag (1959–60) New Soil (1959) Swing, Swang, Swingin' (1959) Capuchin Swing (1960) Street Singer (with Tina Brooks, 1960) Bluesnik (1961) A Fickle Sonance (1961) Let Freedom Ring (1962) Tippin' the Scales (1962) Vertigo (1962–63) Hipnosis (1962–67) One Step Beyond (1963) Destination... Out! (1963) It's Time! (1964) Action Action Action (1964) Right Now! (1965) Jacknife (1965–66) Consequence (1965) New and Old Gospel (1967) 'Bout Soul (1967) Demon's Dance (1967) Live at Montmartre (1972) Ode to Super (1973) A Ghetto Lullaby (1973) Altissimo (1973) The Meeting (1973) The Source (1973) Antiquity (1974) New York Calling (1974) New Wine in Old Bottles (1978) One Night with Blue Note Preserved Volume 2 (1985) It's About Time (1985) Hat Trick (1996)
With others	The Happy Blues (Gene Ammons, 1956) Jammin' with Gene (Gene Ammons, 1956) Funky (Gene Ammons, 1957) Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons (Gene Ammons, 1957) Hard Bop (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956) Originally (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956 ) Drum Suite (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956–57) A Night in Tunisia (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, Vik/RCA, 1957) Ritual: The Modern Jazz Messengers (Art Blakey, 1957) Tough! (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1957) Back to the Tracks (Tina Brooks, 1960) 2 Guitars (Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Raney, 1957) Off to the Races (Donald Byrd, 1958) Fuego (Donald Byrd, 1959) Byrd in Flight (Donald Byrd, 1960) Cool Struttin' (Sonny Clark, 1958) Dig (Miles Davis, 1951) Quintet/Sextet (Miles Davis, 1955) Davis Cup (Walter Davis Jr., 1959) Inta Somethin' (Kenny Dorham, 1961) Matador (Kenny Dorham, 1962) Tuba Sounds (Ray Draper, 1957) 2 Trumpets (Art Farmer, 1957) Bird Songs: The Final Recordings (Dizzy Gillespie, 1992) To Bird with Love (Dizzy Gillespie, 1992) Pithecanthropus Erectus (Charles Mingus, 1956) Blues & Roots (Charles Mingus, 1958) Mobley's Message (Hank Mobley, Prestige, 1956) Hi Voltage (Hank Mobley, 1967) Evolution (Grachan Moncur III, 1963) Lee-Way (Lee Morgan, 1960) Tom Cat (Lee Morgan, 1964) Cornbread (Lee Morgan, 1965) Infinity (Lee Morgan, 1965) Charisma (Lee Morgan, 1966) The Sixth Sense (Lee Morgan, 1967–68) The Music From "The Connection" (Freddie Redd, 1960) Shades of Redd (Freddie Redd, 1960) Redd's Blues (Freddie Redd, 1961) Open House (Jimmy Smith, 1960) Plain Talk (Jimmy Smith, 1960) Taylor's Wailers (Art Taylor, 1957) Mal/2 (Mal Waldron, 1957) Left Alone (Mal Waldron, 1959) Left Alone '86 (Mal Waldron, 1986) Easterly Winds (Jack Wilson, 1967)
Film and TV appearances	The Connection (Shirley Clarke, 1961) Jazz (Ken Burns, 2000)

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