Mala has been performing professionally since she was 15 yrs. old, when she joined a local R&B band. Within a year, the band was signed to RCA records and a single, Take a Little Love was released. She went on to study jazz piano, voice & composition at SUNY College of Old Westbury with Makanda Ken McIntyre, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
As a featured artist, Mala's CDs include He's My Father (duo with her father, jazz pianist/composer, Mal Waldron) and Lullabye, her solo debut, Always There, was her first domestic release (Soulful Sound Music.)
Following impressive reviews in the U.S. and making the JazzUSA's"Top 20 Jazz CDs of 2006 list, Always There went on to receive a strong response in the UK, with Soul Expressvoting the release, "Album of the Month" (Aug. 06). This CD subsequently captured the attention of executives at Columbia Music Entertainment, who re-released it in Japan, with the addition of 2 bonus tracks.
Mala has performed throughout world in such places as France, Belgium, Taiwan, China & Malaysia (sponsored by HENNESSY-MOET), and in Sicily, Italy (Catania Jazz Fest.) In 2006 she participated in the Annual Diet Coke Women in Jazz Festival (Jazz at Lincoln Center), opening for Patrice Rushen. Mala is also proud to have participated in the WBGO Kids Jazz Concert Series leading an all-female ensemble at the Newark Museum. She has been featured in numerous magazines, including Jazziz, Jazz Improv, Swing Journal, Jazz Life, Hothouse Jazz and Ad Lib, as well as being a guest on WBGO, WBAI, WFDU and WKCR radio.
The Mala Waldron Group (as featured on Always There has been playing together since October 2002.
GUITARIST, STEVE SALERNO is an active performer of both jazz & classical music. He's played with numerous artists including Jaco Pastorius, John Abercrombie, Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Regina Carter, Randy Brecker and Nat Adderly, Jr. He's also the Founding Director of the Jazz Program at Stony Brook University.
BASSIST, MIMI JONES a/k/a MIRIAM SULLIVAN is a graduate of Music and Performing Arts High School and Manhattan School of Music Conservatory. She has toured the world including South America and Africa with the Jazz Ambassador Program. Performance credits include: Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Rachel Z, Lionel Hampton & Tia Fuller. Her debut CD, "A New Day," showcases for her skills as a musician, singer and as a composer.
PERCUSSIONIST-"SOUNDRHYTHIUM," MICHAEL "T.A." THOMPSON has shared the stage with a variety of artists including Joe McPhee, John Stubblefield, Henry Grimes, Oliver Lake, Roy Campbell, Jr., John Patittucci, Barbara Sfraga and "The Mighty Sparrow." Thompson is featured on the Drimala Records release Language of Swans. T.A. is becoming increasingly known for his work as a producer as well ("Always There", "Timelessness Frozen in Time" (Timelessness Project), "A New Day" (Mimi Jones) to name a few.