Gavin Walker
May 14, 2010, 02:23 AM
The Feature tonight is in celebration of the birthday of one of the most distinctive voices of the alto saxophone......John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean. Jackie was born in New York on May 17, 1931 and died, after a long illness on March 31, 2006. The Jazz Feature tonight is Jackie's first quartet date for Blue Note Records called simply "Swing, Swang, Swingin'". When Jackie signed with Blue Note in January 1959 after several unhappy years with Prestige, his playing had reached full maturity and of course, continued to grow and change with the years. He was with Blue Note from 1959 until his last unreleased date in July 1968. His last released date for that label was the fine "Demon's Dance" done in December 1967. The signing by Blue Note was a relief for McLean as he felt exploited by Prestige and taken advantage of because of his drug habit. The drug habit continued throughout his Blue Note years as well but by the end of the 1960's with the help of the methadone program and his wife Dollie, Jackie freed himself from the enslavement of heroin and never looked back. The Feature album was special for McLean as it is a very personal statement of where his music was in October of 1959 when he recorded this date.
Jackie had recorded quartet sessions for Prestige but this Blue Note date was different and the promises of the Prestige recordings were fulfilled. Jackie's playing here displayed a new confidence and a smoothness. Gone were the incomplete ideas and jagged hesitation that marred some of his earlier work. The sound was bigger and the flow of ideas reflected the results of practice and discipline. As McLean was the sole horn, the arrangements were simple and straight-forward and the tunes were mostly well chosen standards from the Great American songbook plus Benny Golson's Jazz standard, "Stablemates". The familiar standards are "What's New", "I Remember You". "I Love You", and "I'll Take Romance" plus the less well known to Jazz players, Irving Berlin's "Let's Face The Music and Dance". The set ends with a driving blues by Jackie dedicated to a Harlem intersection called "116th and Lenox".
Jackie's chosen rhythm section included pianist Walter Bishop Jr. who had just returned to the scene after a few years of enforced incarceration due to drugs. Bishop stayed clean and sober and had a long career as one of the hardest swinging pianists on the scene. Bishop, on this session, delivers the goods and backs McLean with taste and time and solos well on all the tunes. Bishop grew up with Jackie in the same area in Harlem as did drummer Arthur Taylor, whose clean, clear cymbal ride and great fills inspire the soloists. Bish and Taylor both came from a West Indian background and perhaps this is why they are hard-driving rhythmic players. Although Paul Chambers would have been Jackie's bassist of choice had he not been on the road with Miles Davis, McLean couldn't really go wrong with young Jimmy Garrison, who would later make history with Ornette Coleman and especially John Coltrane. Garrison was from Philadelphia and had been in New York for about a year. He had put in time with Bill Evans, Lennie Tristano and Philly Joe Jones and on this recording delivers the big sound, good notes and strong beat worthy of Mr. P.C. Not much more can be said about this fine date except it deserves another re-issue. It only came out on the Blue Note Connoisseur series and it's now long out of print. Happy Birthday Mr. McLean, you may be gone from this Earth but your music will live forever.
The Jackie McLean Feature will be heard as usual, shortly after 11pm but please join me right at 9pm from the beginning as I've got some great surprises waiting for you........see you then...................
Jackie had recorded quartet sessions for Prestige but this Blue Note date was different and the promises of the Prestige recordings were fulfilled. Jackie's playing here displayed a new confidence and a smoothness. Gone were the incomplete ideas and jagged hesitation that marred some of his earlier work. The sound was bigger and the flow of ideas reflected the results of practice and discipline. As McLean was the sole horn, the arrangements were simple and straight-forward and the tunes were mostly well chosen standards from the Great American songbook plus Benny Golson's Jazz standard, "Stablemates". The familiar standards are "What's New", "I Remember You". "I Love You", and "I'll Take Romance" plus the less well known to Jazz players, Irving Berlin's "Let's Face The Music and Dance". The set ends with a driving blues by Jackie dedicated to a Harlem intersection called "116th and Lenox".
Jackie's chosen rhythm section included pianist Walter Bishop Jr. who had just returned to the scene after a few years of enforced incarceration due to drugs. Bishop stayed clean and sober and had a long career as one of the hardest swinging pianists on the scene. Bishop, on this session, delivers the goods and backs McLean with taste and time and solos well on all the tunes. Bishop grew up with Jackie in the same area in Harlem as did drummer Arthur Taylor, whose clean, clear cymbal ride and great fills inspire the soloists. Bish and Taylor both came from a West Indian background and perhaps this is why they are hard-driving rhythmic players. Although Paul Chambers would have been Jackie's bassist of choice had he not been on the road with Miles Davis, McLean couldn't really go wrong with young Jimmy Garrison, who would later make history with Ornette Coleman and especially John Coltrane. Garrison was from Philadelphia and had been in New York for about a year. He had put in time with Bill Evans, Lennie Tristano and Philly Joe Jones and on this recording delivers the big sound, good notes and strong beat worthy of Mr. P.C. Not much more can be said about this fine date except it deserves another re-issue. It only came out on the Blue Note Connoisseur series and it's now long out of print. Happy Birthday Mr. McLean, you may be gone from this Earth but your music will live forever.
The Jackie McLean Feature will be heard as usual, shortly after 11pm but please join me right at 9pm from the beginning as I've got some great surprises waiting for you........see you then...................