Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn (Live At Yoshi's 1994)
Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy
Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994 is a previously unreleased live recording capturing pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy in an intimate duo performance at the legendary Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, California, on June 8, 1994. Released on May 1, 2026, by Elemental Music as a deluxe 2CD and 180-gram double LP gatefold edition, the recording was transferred from the original tapes and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, with mixing and restoration handled by Marc Doutrepont at EQuuS. The package includes exclusive photographs by Hugo Peeters and a liner essay by jazz author Kevin Whitehead. Waldron and Lacy were longstanding and deeply symbiotic collaborators — two of the most distinctive and uncompromising voices in post-bop jazz — and their shared devotion to the music of Thelonious Monk made them natural interpreters of the repertoire at the heart of this performance. The album has been awarded a "Choc" distinction by Jazz Magazine, one of the publication's highest critical honors.
Across 14 tracks and nearly two hours of music, the duo explores compositions by Monk, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn alongside their own originals, creating what Elemental Music describes as "a powerful document of two singular voices in jazz meeting in spontaneous musical conversation." The Monk material is particularly well represented — "Monk's Dream," "Evidence," "Let's Call This," "Epistrophy," "'Round Midnight," and "Bemsha Swing" all appear — while the Ellington and Strayhorn contributions include "In a Sentimental Mood," "In a Mellow Tone," and "Johnny Come Lately." The program also makes room for Bud Powell's "I'll Keep Loving You," Elmo Hope's "Roll On," Lacy's own "Prayer," Waldron's extended "Snake Out," and a jointly credited "Blues" that closes out the set. The result is a richly detailed and deeply felt encounter between two musicians who had spent decades developing a shared language — unhurried, probing, and utterly without pretension.
Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994 is a previously unreleased live recording capturing pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy in an intimate duo performance at the legendary Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, California, on June 8, 1994. Released on May 1, 2026, by Elemental Music as a deluxe 2CD and 180-gram double LP gatefold edition, the recording was transferred from the original tapes and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, with mixing and restoration handled by Marc Doutrepont at EQuuS. The package includes exclusive photographs by Hugo Peeters and a liner essay by jazz author Kevin Whitehead. Waldron and Lacy were longstanding and deeply symbiotic collaborators — two of the most distinctive and uncompromising voices in post-bop jazz — and their shared devotion to the music of Thelonious Monk made them natural interpreters of the repertoire at the heart of this performance. The album has been awarded a "Choc" distinction by Jazz Magazine, one of the publication's highest critical honors.
Across 14 tracks and nearly two hours of music, the duo explores compositions by Monk, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn alongside their own originals, creating what Elemental Music describes as "a powerful document of two singular voices in jazz meeting in spontaneous musical conversation." The Monk material is particularly well represented — "Monk's Dream," "Evidence," "Let's Call This," "Epistrophy," "'Round Midnight," and "Bemsha Swing" all appear — while the Ellington and Strayhorn contributions include "In a Sentimental Mood," "In a Mellow Tone," and "Johnny Come Lately." The program also makes room for Bud Powell's "I'll Keep Loving You," Elmo Hope's "Roll On," Lacy's own "Prayer," Waldron's extended "Snake Out," and a jointly credited "Blues" that closes out the set. The result is a richly detailed and deeply felt encounter between two musicians who had spent decades developing a shared language — unhurried, probing, and utterly without pretension.
Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn (Live At Yoshi's 1994)
Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy
Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994 is a previously unreleased live recording capturing pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy in an intimate duo performance at the legendary Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, California, on June 8, 1994. Released on May 1, 2026, by Elemental Music as a deluxe 2CD and 180-gram double LP gatefold edition, the recording was transferred from the original tapes and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, with mixing and restoration handled by Marc Doutrepont at EQuuS. The package includes exclusive photographs by Hugo Peeters and a liner essay by jazz author Kevin Whitehead. Waldron and Lacy were longstanding and deeply symbiotic collaborators — two of the most distinctive and uncompromising voices in post-bop jazz — and their shared devotion to the music of Thelonious Monk made them natural interpreters of the repertoire at the heart of this performance. The album has been awarded a "Choc" distinction by Jazz Magazine, one of the publication's highest critical honors.
Across 14 tracks and nearly two hours of music, the duo explores compositions by Monk, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn alongside their own originals, creating what Elemental Music describes as "a powerful document of two singular voices in jazz meeting in spontaneous musical conversation." The Monk material is particularly well represented — "Monk's Dream," "Evidence," "Let's Call This," "Epistrophy," "'Round Midnight," and "Bemsha Swing" all appear — while the Ellington and Strayhorn contributions include "In a Sentimental Mood," "In a Mellow Tone," and "Johnny Come Lately." The program also makes room for Bud Powell's "I'll Keep Loving You," Elmo Hope's "Roll On," Lacy's own "Prayer," Waldron's extended "Snake Out," and a jointly credited "Blues" that closes out the set. The result is a richly detailed and deeply felt encounter between two musicians who had spent decades developing a shared language — unhurried, probing, and utterly without pretension.
Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994 is a previously unreleased live recording capturing pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy in an intimate duo performance at the legendary Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, California, on June 8, 1994. Released on May 1, 2026, by Elemental Music as a deluxe 2CD and 180-gram double LP gatefold edition, the recording was transferred from the original tapes and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, with mixing and restoration handled by Marc Doutrepont at EQuuS. The package includes exclusive photographs by Hugo Peeters and a liner essay by jazz author Kevin Whitehead. Waldron and Lacy were longstanding and deeply symbiotic collaborators — two of the most distinctive and uncompromising voices in post-bop jazz — and their shared devotion to the music of Thelonious Monk made them natural interpreters of the repertoire at the heart of this performance. The album has been awarded a "Choc" distinction by Jazz Magazine, one of the publication's highest critical honors.
Across 14 tracks and nearly two hours of music, the duo explores compositions by Monk, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn alongside their own originals, creating what Elemental Music describes as "a powerful document of two singular voices in jazz meeting in spontaneous musical conversation." The Monk material is particularly well represented — "Monk's Dream," "Evidence," "Let's Call This," "Epistrophy," "'Round Midnight," and "Bemsha Swing" all appear — while the Ellington and Strayhorn contributions include "In a Sentimental Mood," "In a Mellow Tone," and "Johnny Come Lately." The program also makes room for Bud Powell's "I'll Keep Loving You," Elmo Hope's "Roll On," Lacy's own "Prayer," Waldron's extended "Snake Out," and a jointly credited "Blues" that closes out the set. The result is a richly detailed and deeply felt encounter between two musicians who had spent decades developing a shared language — unhurried, probing, and utterly without pretension.