Free at Last
Studio album by
the Mal Waldron Trio
Released1970 (1970)
RecordedNovember 24, 1969 (1969-11-24)
StudioStudio Bauer
Ludwigsburg, W. Germany
GenreJazz
Length41:29
LabelECM
ECM 1001 ST
ProducerManfred Scheffner
Mal Waldron chronology
Set Me Free
(1969) 		Free at Last
(1970) 		Tokyo Bound
(1970)

Free at Last is an album by the Mal Waldron Trio, recorded on November 24, 1969 and released on the nascent ECM label the following year—the first release on the influential Euro-jazz label.[1] The trio features rhythm section Isla Eckinger and Clarence Becton.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]
Tom HullB+ ((2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention))[4]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states, "The music overall is not that memorable or unique but it does have its unpredictable moments and finds Waldron really stretching himself."[2]

JazzTimes, in a retrospective analysis of ECM's first 50 years, commented, "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."[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mal Waldron except as indicated

Side I
No.TitleLength
1."Rat Now"10:18
2."Balladina"5:05
3."1-3-234"4:05
Side II
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rock My Soul" 11:23
2."Willow Weep for Me"Ann Ronell7:34
3."Boo" 3:24

Personnel

Mal Waldron Trio

Technical personnel

References

  1. ^ Mal Waldron discography accessed February 22, 2011
  2. ^ a b Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 22, 2011
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1454. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ Hull, Tom (28 February 2018). "Streamnotes". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  5. ^ West, Michael J. (May 14, 2019). "JazzTimes 10: Landmark ECM Albums". JazzTimes. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
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