What It Is (Mal Waldron album)

What It Is
What It Is
Studio album by Mal Waldron
Released	1982
Recorded	November 15, 1981
Genre	Jazz
Length	37:14
Label	Enja
Producer	Horst Weber
Mal Waldron chronology

Last updated December 22, 2025

What It Is is an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron recorded in 1981 and released by the Enja label.^[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Ron Wynn awarded the album 3 stars stating "dauntless piano".^[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]

Track listing

All compositions by Mal Waldron except as indicated

"Charlie Parker's Last Supper" (Clifford Jordan) — 7:14
"Hymn from the Inferno" — 12:02
"What It Is" — 17:58

- Recorded at Vanguard Studios in New York City on November 15, 1981

Personnel

References

↑ Mal Waldron discography accessed March 1, 2011
1 2 Wynn, R. Allmusic Review accessed March 1, 2011

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[Mal_Waldron_discography-1] Mal Waldron discography accessed March 1, 2011

[Allmusic-2] 1 2 Wynn, R. Allmusic Review accessed March 1, 2011

[1]

[2]

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 Clifford Jordan
Year(s) indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Blowing in from Chicago (1957) Cliff Jordan (1957) Jenkins, Jordan and Timmons (1957) Cliff Craft (1957) Spellbound (1960) A Story Tale (1961) Starting Time (1961) Bearcat (1962) These are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly (1965) Soul Fountain (1966) In the World (1969) Glass Bead Games (1973) Half Note (1974) Drink Plenty Water (1974) Night of the Mark VII (aka, The Highest Mountain, Muse, 1975) On Stage Vol. 1 (1975) On Stage Vol. 2 (1975) On Stage Vol. 3 (1975) Firm Roots (1975) The Highest Mountain (SteepleChase, 1975) Remembering Me-Me (1976) Inward Fire (1977) The Adventurer (1978) Hello, Hank Jones (1978) Hyde Park After Dark (1981) Repetition (1984) Dr. Chicago (1984) Two Tenor Winner (1984) The Rotterdam Session (1985) Royal Ballads (1986) Live at Ethell's (1987) Masters from Different Worlds (1989) Four Play (1990) The Mellow Side of Clifford Jordan (1989–91) Play What You Feel (1990) Down Through the Years (1991)
With Art Farmer	Mirage (1982) You Make Me Smile (1984) Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (1987) Blame It on My Youth (1988) Ph.D. (1989)
With Charles Mingus	Cornell 1964 (March 1964) Town Hall Concert (April 1964) Astral Weeks (April 1964) Mingus in Europe Volume I (April 1964) Mingus in Europe Volume II (April 1964) Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop (June 1964)
With Lee Morgan	Here's Lee Morgan (1960) Expoobident (1960) Take Twelve (1962)
With Max Roach	Percussion Bitter Sweet (1961) It's Time (1962) Speak, Brother, Speak! (1962)
With Cedar Walton	Spectrum (1968) The Electric Boogaloo Song (1969) A Night at Boomers, Vol. 1 (1973) A Night at Boomers, Vol. 2 (1973) The Pentagon (1976)
With others	Paul Chambers Quintet (1957) Sonny Clark Quintets / My Conception (1957) Epistrophy & Now's the Time (Richard Davis, 1972) Dealin' (Richard Davis, 1973) Iron Man (Eric Dolphy, 1963) Conversations (Eric Dolphy, 1963) To Bird with Love (Dizzy Gillespie, 1992) Roots (Slide Hampton, 1985) Luminous (John Hicks and Elise Wood, 1985) Shades (Andrew Hill, 1986) J.J. Inc. (J.J. Johnson, 1961) Con Alma! (Charles McPherson, 1965) Any Old Time (Carmen McRae, 1986) Carmen Sings Monk (Carmen McRae, 1988) Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 1 (Mingus Dynasty, 1988) Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 2 (Mingus Dynasty, 1988) Pony's Express (Pony Poindexter, 1962) Manhattan Project (Dizzy Reece, 1976) The Jazz We Heard Last Summer (Sahib Shihab, 1957) Further Explorations (Horace Silver, 1958) Music Inc. (Charles Tolliver, 1970) What It Is (Mal Waldron, 1981) Money in the Pocket (Joe Zawinul, 1967)

What It Is (Mal Waldron album)

Contents

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

References