The distinctive, even oppressive, tone of Waldron's playing might seem burdensome when stretched over a box of 11 albums. (And there's more where that came from, his sessions with Woody Shaw, Sonny Fortune and Jim Pepper being doubtless in Volume One.) However, not all of those included here are ‘Waldron albums’, those by the three vocalists being issued under their own names – as was Braxton's quartet exploration of Monk tunes, while the two duo sets with Lacy (one an interesting programme of Ellington-Strayhorn material) were jointly credited. With strong partners, he's reliably helpful and absorbing, whereas his work here as a leader is more problematic, perhaps especially on the unaccompanied Update with its two longest tracks dedicated to (but hardly influenced by) Cecil Taylor. If you play this material in chronological order, the last track of all is Judi Silvano and Joe Lovano's song titled ‘Mal Waldron’, and their praise for him is ultimately vindicated.