JMack vs. the Stange Devil

Jackie McLean - Demon's Dance (1967)

Demon's Dance

Jackie McLean - Strange Blues (1957)

Disciples Love Affair

Throughout his long and extremely consistent career, Jackie McLean was known for one of the most distinct voices and truly pushed the boundaries of jazz. Taught in the school of Parker but quickly developing his own sharp and intense sound, McLean was responsible for more than a handful of the best creative jazz albums laid to wax. Maybe I'm a little biased- McLean was the founder and artistic director of the African American Music Program of the Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford, and I was fortunate enough to take a course with him and hear stories of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Charles Mingus first hand. His untimely death last year marked the passing of one of the last original jazz giants.

One of his criminally overlooked albums celebrates it's 40th anniversary this year, Demon's Dance (well, it was actually recorded in 1967 but not released until 1970 and finally reissued on CD last year). The Francis Wolff-produced session included Woody Shaw (who contributes one of the albums most memorable tracks, "Sweet Love of Mine"), Lamont Johnson, Scott Holt, and Jack DeJohnette, so just by the roster you know it swings hard. It ended up being his last Blue Note session and the beginning of a 5-year hiatus from recording, where he made an effort to end his addiction to heroin and started teaching at the University of Hartford. Using less experimentation structure-wise compared to some of his earlier sessions from the mid-60's, the group focuses more on cohesion and pulsation. Check out the opening title track written by McLean- a jagged but swinging piece that shows all five musicians contributing but allowing enough space for adventurous solos.

McLean also released in 1967 New and Old Gospel, another superb but overlooked Blue Note session (reissued on CD this past March), especially of interest since it's the only time McLean recorded with Ornette Coleman, with him as a sideman on trumpet no less, as well as the classic 'Bout Soul, which is somehow currently out of print.

Going back even further to a record now 50 years old is McLean's Strange Blues. 1957 was a productive year for the young band leader, performing and recording with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and releasing several of his own albums with his first label, Prestige. As with other sessions from this time, these songs are notable due to the presence of a then 17-year-old Ray Draper, who plays tuba- a rarity in the world of jazz- and contributes his own compositions. Check out Draper's "Disciples Love Affair" where his tuba really makes for an unique listen- never mind the liner notes claim that Draper's performance is "an honorable failure, due to the brutish, unresponsive nature of the instrument. It's a stodgy horn that simply isn't designed for virtuoso ad-libbing." As long as you're not expecting Coltrane (whom Draper actually recorded with), it's still enjoyable. The CD reissue is out of print, but the album is now available on iTunes.