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Title: Jackie McLean – New Soil (1959) [Analogue Productions 2010]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

New Soil wasn’t the first session Jackie McLean recorded for Blue Note, but it was the first one released, and as the title suggests, the first glimmerings of McLean’s desire to push beyond the limits of bop are already apparent. They’re subtle, of course, and nowhere near as pronounced as they would be in just a few years’ time, but — as with the 1959 material later issued on Jackie’s Bag — hints of Ornette Coleman’s stream-of-consciousness melodic freedom are beginning to find their way into McLean’s improvisations. His playing is just a touch more angular than the ear expects, especially given the very bluesy nature of pieces like McLean’s 11-minute vamp, “Hip Strut,” and pianist Walter Davis, Jr.’s infectious boogie-woogie “Greasy.” Coleman’s influence is most apparent on McLean’s “Minor Apprehension,” where the freewheeling, Coleman-esque main theme is paralleled by trumpeter Donald Byrd in a definite nod to Don Cherry. What’s more, drummer Pete LaRoca takes a surprisingly free solo of significant length toward the end of the track. However, the cut that the musicians seem to dig into the most is Davis’ twisting, turning bopper “Davis Cup,” which sports a rhumba beat and a bevy of exciting solos. It could be argued that McLean never recorded a bad album for Blue Note, and New Soil got his career with the label off to a terrifically stimulating start.

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Title: Jackie McLean – Lights Out (1956) [Analogue Productions 2013]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Altoist Jackie McLean’s second session as a leader is reissued on this SACD. The music that he makes with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Elmo Hope, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Taylor is essentially hard bop with fairly simple (or in some cases nonexistent) melody statements preceding two romps through the “I Got Rhythm” chord changes, a pair of blues, a thinly disguised “Embraceable You” and a straightforward version of “A Foggy Day”. Enjoyable if not really essential music from the up-and-coming altoist.

A perpetual favorite among Jackie McLean’s earlier recordings, Lights Out finds the hard-swinging young alto saxophonist in 1956 still very much under the wing of Charlie Parker, who had died less than a year earlier. Yet McLean was beginning to find ways out of the seductive artistic security of Bird imitations. For one thing, he was experimenting with tonal variations. For another, he was working with Charles Mingus, and Mingus’s genius as a leader included forcing musicians to look deeply into their most cherished stylistic practices. The McLean of Lights Out is the hot young bebopper with a slightly acid edge to his sound and a solid blues foundation under everything he played. McLean and trumpeter Donald Byrd occasionally engage in the “pecking” technique of mutual improvisation they developed as members of the George Wallington Quintet.

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Title: Jackie McLean – Jackie’s Bag (1961) [Analogue Productions 2010]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Jackie’s Bag is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1959 and 1960 and released in June 1961 by Blue Note. The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 4½ stars and stated “the music on Jackie’s Bag finds McLean in a staunchly hard bop mode, with occasional hints of adventurousness”.

Jackie’s Bag is split between two different recording sessions: the first, from January 1959, was the first session Jackie McLean ever led for Blue Note, and the second was a sextet date from September 1960 that featured tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks as a co-leader in all but name. According to the liner notes, McLean’s first date produced only three songs of releasable quality, which are included here. Six tunes were cut at the Brooks session, which were all issued in Japan as Street Singer, and half appeared on the original Jackie’s Bag LP. Given the transitional time period of the first and Brooks’ musical taste on the second, the music on Jackie’s Bag finds McLean in a staunchly hard bop mode, with occasional hints of adventurousness. While McLean’s debut performances are certainly well done, the most distinctive appeal of the album lies in the Brooks collaborations. There are exotic flavors to McLean’s terrific “Appointment in Ghana” and Brooks’ “Isle of Java”; of the newly added bonus tracks, Brooks’ “Medina” has a particularly complex and memorable theme, and his “Street Singer” was actually issued on his own Back to the Tracks album as well. Despite crucial contributions from trumpeter Blue Mitchell and drummer Art Taylor, the real focal point of these performances is the complementary interplay between McLean and Brooks, the latter of whom does a nice job of matching the former’s legendarily hard-edged tone. McLean devotees will want this anyway, but the quality of the Street Singer material pushes Jackie’s Bag far beyond a simple gap-plugging historical release.

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Title: Jackie McLean – Capuchin Swing (1960) [Analogue Productions 2008]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

One of Jackie McLean’s more underrated albums from a plethora of Blue Note releases, 1960’s Capuchin Swing finds the bebop alto saxophonist in fine form on a mix of covers and originals. While his future fascination with Ornette Coleman’s free-form innovations can be sensed in some of the solos here, the majority of the album is in a classic hard bop vein. Like contemporaries Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, and Lee Morgan, though, McLean doesn’t just churn out pat jam-session fare, but comes up with consistently provocative charts and solos. Eschewing ballads, McLean focuses on mid- to fast-tempo swingers and blues. Standouts include originals like “Francisco” and “Condition Blue” and choice renditions of “Just for Now” and “Don’t Blame Me.” McLean enlists a sparkling lineup of hard bop stars, including trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Walter Bishop, Jr., bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor. Mitchell particularly impresses, matching many of McLean’s own inspired flights with his supple and progressive playing. Along with other fine Blue Note titles like Jackie’s Bag and Bluesnik, Capuchin Swing makes for a great introduction to McLean’s extensive catalog.

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Title: Jackie McLean – 4, 5 and 6 (1956) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2012]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

In 1956 Jackie McLean was only beginning to assert himself as a true individualist on the alto saxophone, exploring the lime-flavored microtones of his instrument that purists or the misinformed perceived as being off-key or out of tune. 4, 5 and 6 presents McLean’s quartet on half the date, and tunes with an expanded quintet, and one sextet track — thus the title. Mal Waldron, himself an unconventional pianist willing to explore different sizings and shadings of progressive jazz, is a wonderful complement for McLean’s notions, with bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Taylor the impervious team everyone wanted for his rhythm section at the time. The quartet versions of “Sentimental Journey,” “Why Was I Born?,” and “When I Fall in Love” range from totally bluesy, to hard bop ribald, to pensive and hopeful, respectively. These are three great examples of McLean attempting to make the tunes his own, adding a flattened, self-effaced, almost grainy-faced texture to the music without concern for the perfectness of the melody. Donald Byrd joins the fray on his easygoing bopper “Contour,” where complex is made simple and enjoyable, while Hank Mobley puts his tenor sax to the test on the lone and lengthy sextet track, a rousing version of Charlie Parker’s risk-laden “Confirmation.” It’s Waldron’s haunting ballad “Abstraction,” with Byrd and McLean’s quick replies, faint and dour, that somewhat illuminates the darker side. As a stand-alone recording, 4, 5 and 6 does not break barriers, but does foreshadow the future of McLean as an innovative musician in an all-too-purist mainstream jazz world.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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