A beautiful album by Mal Waldron – recorded in 1960, after the passing of
Billie Holiday, and a very loving tribute by Waldron, who was her accompanist for a number of years. The set moves way past the usual "
Holiday songbook" mode, and features instead a dark batch of tracks, two written by Waldron – "Minor Pulsation" and "Cat Walk" – a third written by him and
Holiday, the famous tune "Left Alone". Jackie McLean plays some fantastic alto sax on the version of "Left Alone", and the rest of the tracks are trio tracks played by Waldron, Julian Euell, and Al Dreares. The set also features one very strange track – "Mal Waldron: The Way He Remembers
Billie Holiday" – which is an interview with Waldron about
Billie! And sure, there were many cash-in records after
Billie Holiday died, but this is one of the best, and it comes from a very legitimate source!