Jackie McLean ~ Blue Note concert 1985

[Jazzrook]

One for Bluesnik. I tried JRR for this but no luck yet.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMh-XtGc4W0

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

J.Rook~ MANY THANKS!
There is some great Jackie on the Net.

I have (on tape) Jackie at the Cheltenham Fest in 1997 with Cedar Walton's Qrt. WONDERFUL stuff, a great set, I WAZ there, and Alyn S interviewed Jackie for R3...my tapes are from that later broadcast. This must have been the last time Jackie played in Britain.

I was thinking of requesting Jackie's "Vertigo" (B/Note 1963) for JRR/R3. Tony Williams' first recording and two months before he and Herbie H joined Miles. Fantastic track that pre-figure's the "freedom" of Miles' second quintet... Even Donald Byrd (a la Miles) was kicked into sounding wide awake, stretching and superb!
If you ever wondered what Jackie would sound like in Miles's 2nd Quintet in the "Wayne" role (I often did at the time) , this is the track.


BN.

[burning dog]

About as good as band as you could get playing post bop, straight ahead in the 80s.

BN I think the first album that came up when I joined the old bored( in about 05!) was this one

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

B.Dog, I thaink that period - One Step Beyond, Destination Out, Evolution, Action, Right Now! etc - was Jackie's finest hour.

"Beyond", a classic, prefigured Dolphy's "Out to Lunch", "Evolution" (Moncur) had some fascinating Lee Morgan playing well beyond his comfort zone, and "Right Now" has Jackie (incredible fluency) and Clifford Jarvis just driving it home.

It ain't ECM, it ain't R3, but its the essence of what I think of as jazz and an artist's total dedication. And on the "hated" hard bopo Bluenote!

BN.

Other Jackie Mclean records are available. Interestingly,that b. horrible "funk" album that he recorded for RCA in the 70s (Monuments?) outsold them all.

[burning dog]

B.Dog, I thaink that period - One Step Beyond, Destination Out, Evolution, Action, Right Now! etc - was Jackie's finest hour.

"Beyond", a classic, prefigured Dolphy's "Out to Lunch", "Evolution" (Moncur) had some fascinating Lee Morgan playing well beyond his comfort zone, and "Right Now" has Jackie (incredible fluency) and Clifford Jarvis just driving it home.

It ain't ECM, it ain't R3, but its the essence of what I think of as jazz and an artist's total dedication. And on the "hated" hard bopo Bluenote!

BN.
Other Jackie Mclean records are available. Interestingly,that b. horrible "funk" album that he recorded for RCA in the 70s (Monuments?) outsold them all.

'Funk' played by those rooted in bebop is usually dire.

Iv'e heard Monuments and if anything it would have been ok as a soft funk easy listening album but Mclean spoils it:doh: He wasn't funky in the 70s sense. Maybe loads bought it but both the funksters and hipsters hated it. Sony Rollins flirted with it, so did John Handy, but they were just to make a few dollars and nothing more I suppose or even worse to 'get down with the homies'.

When jazzers were really into jazz funk it showed, and the results were better. It was usually more "modern". That Monuments album would have dated very quickly.

I agree about the Blue Note era Mclean, maybe slightly less experimental than Dolphy, less abstract and more bluesy than Miles 2nd Quartet. Though there's a bit of Coltrane creeping in to Jackies sound, there's more Ornette added to the Parkerish basis than Coltrane IMO

[Ian Thumwood]

"New Gospel" , anyone?

[burning dog]

"New Gospel" , anyone?

Good, Very Good in parts, but what about Ornette's trumpet?


I like the couple of albums he did with the young Charles Tolliver on trumpet

[Ian Thumwood]

BD

I think that this disc has Ornette's best trumpet playing on. Although I had previously needed to be convinced, I don't think that this effort is at all bad. Worth the money along for the track "Old Gospel."

[burning dog]

BD

I think that this disc has Ornette's best trumpet playing on. Although I had previously needed to be convinced, I don't think that this effort is at all bad. Worth the money along for the track "Old Gospel."

Yes It's a fine record, I agree.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Jackie had the grace (and awareness) to apologise for "Monuments"! But at least it made him some much needed money. I read an interview with him that at one point his earnings for a FULL year (in the '50s) was $35. Only Dolly working and insider support from a few fans kept him afloat.

Agree about "New/Old Gospel". Ornette's trumpet is all about "intent "rather than technique and those slithering lines sometimes (oddly) remind me of a wave at Kenny Dorham c. 1953 (who Ornette much admired)! It works as a foil because Jackie is so on top of his game.

"'Bout Soul" (B/Note with Woody Shaw, Moncur and Rashid Ali) is OK but a bit sad because of that bloody awful poetry lady (title track). Not sure if any of you have heard Jackie's "Antiquity" on Steeplechase, a duo date with Michael Calvin on drums? Jackie's perhaps most "out" side and well worth a listen if you can now find it. He also plays flute on it.

BN.