Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy Play Monk, Ellington & Strayhorn: Live at Yoshi's 1994 on 180g 2LP: Transferred from the Original Tapes and Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab.

This remarkable previously unreleased recording captures two jazz masters—pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy—in an intimate and inspired duo performance recorded live at Yoshi’s in Oakland, California, on June 8, 1994. Longtime collaborators and devoted interpreters of Thelonious Monk’s music, Waldron and Lacy explore compositions by Monk, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn, alongside their own originals.

Presented here as a deluxe 180-gram 2LP gatefold edition, the album has been transferred from the original tapes and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. The package includes exclusive photographs by Hugo Peeters and a special essay by renowned jazz author Kevin Whitehead, offering deeper insight into the musical dialogue between these two visionary artists.

Both musicians shared a profound connection to Monk’s angular lyricism and Ellington’s rich harmonic language, and their performances unfold with deep concentration, lyrical sensitivity, and fearless improvisation. The result is a powerful document of two singular voices in jazz meeting in spontaneous musical conversation.