Talking with bop pianist Mal Waldron

[rintincop]

From my observations and conversations with bop pianist Mal Waldon:
Through many years of experience, Waldron weaves his zig-zagging scale stepping lines in ways that sound melodically strong by intuitively placing chord tones on the beat more often than not. It is a reaction he has developed, he's no longer "thinking theory", he calls it his "flow of consciousness"(a highly focused and relaxed state of mind). Waldron says he practiced enough when he was younger and therefore, he knows well where the chord tones are (without thinking), he hears them, he is attracted to them, and he sees them too; they are obvious landmarks along the black and white key geography of his lines. He simply weaves lines that travel and connect his chord tones without giving it much conscious thought. He reacts to his chords, but is mostly focused on managing his rhythmic phrasing, starts and stops along the path, meaning where each phrase stops and the next phrase starts (he plays towards a good note, "target note" that he likes) and then instantly chooses what note to begin the next phrase from, on and on, again and again... one thing leads to another ... Waldron is also using visualization, he sees his "pool of notes", he sees the forest rather than the trees. He knows what those trees (chord tones) will sound like before he gets to them. His lines travel, search, and roam rather freely connecting and targeting... Waldron says he plays lines by weaving "shapes". He is usually conscious on some level of the chord tones; he's nearly always playing some chord in his left hand.

These skills can be practiced and developed in very slow motion by at first being very conscious (thinking and seeing) where the root, 3rd, and 5th lurk in our scale. Then over days of trial and error, over the weeks it will become more effortless, and more reactive, and then one can happily rely more so on the ear (hearing) to help direct the shape of their lines toward target notes they like. This is much the same process that Barry Harris described.
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The B section of his solo on "Just Friends" gives us some arpeggio fragments for some relief from the continuous scale-wise stepping motion of the first 8 measures.

Waldron also had good habits about adding a half step to balance his scale-like weaving in order to enable the chord tones to land on the beats.
YouTube, Mal Waldron playing "Just Friends"

Some analysis...
At letter A, Mal Waldron favors the "Donna Lee" Charlie Parker motif triplet as his pickup at the 7th degree of his major scale. Waldron plays that same triplet again 4 bars later, and again 4 bars later, and again 4 bars later.
His lines are mostly stepwise (scale-steps), with many chromatic passing tones along the way, almost a serpentine motion. It's as if he pushes off the black keys to move along. Mal Waldron nearly always plays his lines into a chord tone. And as soon as he arrives on a chord tone, he's already weaving his line toward the next chord target...
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To see more of my lessons, search my name in the search window.
Harry teaches jazz piano and theory online via Facebook Messenger.
Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book and also helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

[Bop Head]

Thank you very much for that insight into the thinking of am improvisor.

[Jimmy blue note]

Mal was an incredibly sensitive and lyrical player. He was the player Billie Holiday chose to work with, her favourite piano and duo partner. I got a chance to see him solo several times. Always so soulful.
I really enjoyed this post and analysis. I remember when I discovered phrasing that didn't start with the chord but ended with the chord, if that makes any sense. It really changed and freed up the way I used melody, especially rhythmically. When the melody is converging on a point of strength I find the flow of notes getting there is more imaginative, more organic, more personal.
When working with a singer too, it allows the freedom to complement and 'frame' what the singer is doing, and to be sensitive to the content of the singer's space when you can react to what your partner is hearing.
Needless to say, this way of thinking came after playing a long time; it took me a long time to hear my own inner lines rather than the notes and arpeggios suggested by a chord symbol. I can see his approach being really helpful for awareness.
I'm going to have to really dig into the material in that original post. Thanks for the thread!

[Bop Head]

Harry, I followed your hint "To see more of my lessons, search my name in the search window." and came across this thread-starting post:

Barry Harris must have been asked about potential 8 7 6 phrases in the past workshops. I am curious about why they never seem to be mentioned in his lessons. I have come up with my own 876 phrases, but I wonder what Harris would prescribe for his choice of 876 phrases. […]

But it seems like an attachment got lost there. Could you please elaborate what you mean by “876 phrases”? I saw it mentioned in other posts by you as well but also without explanation. (I know what Barry’s 5432 phrases are.)

[NSJ]

HUGE Mal Waldron fan. Mr. FORTE on the left hand OSTINATOS for sure. Beautiful! I have a current playlist that is 296 hours long of nothing but Mal Waldron, Cedar Walton, Hank Jones, Jaki Byard, Teddy Wilson, Tommy Flanagan, John Lewis (non-MJQ context) and Randy Weston. Been listening to it for over a month, non-stop, put it on shuffle. Will continue to listen to it for several more months.

I consider all these cats hugely important and largely ignored. They covered all the bases, from accompanying singers (Ella, Billie, et al) to trio to solo, to comping for the greatest soloists in jazz, in almost every style, from stride to bop to free.

[rintincop]

Bop Head,

The 876b6 phrases follow the exact same balanced chord tones on the beat logic:
8 is a pivot, 7 is a triple enclosure, 6 is a pivot, b6 is a triple enclosure, on any scale

[Bop Head]

Bop Head,

The 876b6 phrases follow the exact same balanced chord tones on the beat logic:
8 is a pivot, 7 is a triple enclosure, 6 is a pivot, b6 is a triple enclosure, on any scale

I still do not get exactly what you mean. Could you post some examples?

E.g. starting from b6/#5 there are several possible enclosures with diminished neighbors I already use:

For C(m)6:
Ab–F–F#–G
or
G#–B–Bb–A

For C7:
Ab–F–F#–G
or
Ab–B–A–Bb

For C7/b5:
Ab–F–G–Gb
or
Ab–B–A–Bb