John Lenwood McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is one of the few musicians to be elected to the DownBeat Hall of Fame in the year of their death.
Biography McLean was born on May 17, 1931, in Harlem, New York City. His father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra. After his father's death in 1939, Jackie's musical education was continued by his godfather, his record-store-owning stepfather, and several noted teachers. He also received informal tutoring from neighbors Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and Charlie Parker. During high school McLean played in a band with Kenny Drew, Sonny Rollins, and Andy Kirk, Jr. (the saxophonist son of Andy Kirk).
Along with Rollins, McLean featured on Miles Davis's Dig album, recorded in 1951 when McLean was 20 years old. As a young man, he also recorded with Gene Ammons, Charles Mingus (for Pithecanthropus Erectus), George Wallington, and as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. McLean joined Blakey after reportedly being punched by Mingus. Fearing for his life, McLean pulled out a knife and contemplated using it against Mingus in self-defense, but later stated he was grateful that he had not stabbed the bassist.Liner notes to the album Dynasty
McLean's early recordings as leader were in the hard bop school. He later became an exponent of modal jazz without abandoning his foundation in hard bop. Throughout his career he was known for a distinctive tone, akin to the tenor saxophone and often described with such adjectives as "bittersweet", "piercing", or "searing", a slightly sharp pitch, and a strong foundation in the blues.
McLean was a heroin addict throughout his early career, and the resulting loss of his New York City cabaret card forced him to undertake a large number of recording dates to earn income in the absence of nightclub performance opportunities. Consequently, he produced an extensive body of recorded work in the 1950s and 1960s. He was under contract with Blue Note Records from 1959 to 1967, having previously recorded for Prestige. Blue Note offered better pay and more artistic control than other labels, and his work for this organization is highly regarded and includes leadership and sideman dates with a wide range of musicians, including Donald Byrd, Sonny Clark, Lee Morgan, Ornette Coleman, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Redd, Billy Higgins, Freddie Hubbard, Grachan Moncur III, Bobby Hutcherson, Mal Waldron, Tina Brooks and many others.
In 1962, McLean recorded Let Freedom Ring for Blue Note. This album was the culmination of attempts he had made over the years to deal with harmonic problems in jazz, incorporating ideas from the free jazz developments of Ornette Coleman and the "new breed", which inspired his blending of hard bop with the "new thing": "the search is on, Let Freedom Ring". Let Freedom Ring began a period in which he performed with avant-garde jazz musicians rather than the veteran hard bop performers he had been playing with previously. His adaptation of modal jazz and free jazz innovations to his vision of hard bop made his recordings from 1962 on distinctive.
McLean recorded with dozens of musicians and had a gift for spotting talent. Saxophonist Tina Brooks, trumpeter Charles Tolliver, pianist Larry Willis, trumpeter Bill Hardman, and tubist Ray Draper were among those who benefited from McLean's support in the 1950s and 1960s. Drummers such as Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White, Michael Carvin, and Carl Allen gained important early experience with McLean.
In 1967, his recording contract, like those of many other progressive musicians, was terminated by Blue Note's new management. His opportunities to record promised so little pay that he abandoned recording as a way to earn a living, concentrating instead on touring. In 1968, he began teaching at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford. He later set up the university's African American Music Department (now the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz) and its Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies program. His Steeplechase recording New York Calling, made with his son René McLean, showed that by 1980 the assimilation of all influences was complete.
In 1970, he and his wife, Dollie McLean, along with jazz bassist Paul (PB) Brown, founded the Artists Collective, Inc. of Hartford, an organization dedicated to preserving the art and culture of the African Diaspora. It provides educational programs and instruction in dance, theatre, music and visual arts. The membership of McLean's later bands were drawn from his students in Hartford, including Steve Davis and his son René, who is a jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as a jazz educator. Also in McLean's Hartford group was Mark Berman, the jazz pianist and Broadway conductor of Smokey Joe's Cafe and Rent. In 1979, he reached No. 53 in the UK Singles Chart with "Doctor Jackyll and Mister Funk". This track, released on RCA as a 12" single, was an unusual sidestep for McLean to contribute towards the funk/disco revolution of the late 1970s. Many people, at the time, in the clubs where it was played confused the female singers on the track with his name, thinking he was actually female.
He received an American Jazz Masters fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001 and numerous other national and international awards. McLean was the only American jazz musician to found a department of studies at a university and a community-based organization almost simultaneously. Each has existed for over three decades.
McLean died aged 74 on March 31, 2006, in Hartford, Connecticut, after a long illness. In 2006, he was elected to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame via the International Critics Poll. He is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York City, with an image of him playing the saxophone, etched in black granite, high on a hill.
A. B. Spellman's 1966 study, Black Music, Four Lives: Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Nichols, Jackie McLean, still in print, includes extensive mid-career reflections by McLean on his youth and career to date. Derek Ansell's full-length biography of McLean, Sugar Free Saxophone. details the story of his career and provides a full analysis of his music on record.
Discography As leader/co-leader Recording date Title / Co-leader Label Year released Notes 1955-10 Presenting... Jackie McLean Ad Lib 1955 1956-01 Lights Out! Prestige 1956 1956-07 4, 5 and 6 Prestige 1956 1956-08 Jackie's Pal a.k.a. Steeplechase Prestige 1957 As Jackie McLean Quintet (introducing Bill Hardman) 1956-12, 1957-02 McLean's Scene Prestige (New Jazz) 1959 1957-02 Jackie McLean & Co. Prestige 1957 1957-05 Alto Madness with John Jenkins Prestige 1957 1957-02, 1957-07 Strange Blues Prestige 1967 1957-02, 1957-08 Makin' the Changes Prestige (New Jazz) 1960 1957-02, 1957-08 A Long Drink of the Blues Prestige (New Jazz) 1961 1957-12 Fat Jazz Jubilee 1959 1959-05 New Soil Blue Note 1959 1959-10 Swing, Swang, Swingin' Blue Note 1960 1960-04 Capuchin Swing Blue Note 1960 1960-06 Street Singer with Tina Brooks Blue Note 1980 1959-01, 1960-09 Jackie's Bag Blue Note 1961 1961-01 Bluesnik Blue Note 1962 1961-10 A Fickle Sonance Blue Note 1962 1961-11 Inta Somethin' with Kenny Dorham Pacific Jazz 1962 1962-03 Let Freedom Ring Blue Note 1963 1962-09 Tippin' the Scales Blue Note 1979 Blue Note Sekai Hatsutōjō 1800 Series (Japan only) 1959-05, 1962-06, 1963-02 Vertigo Blue Note 1980 LT series 1963-04 One Step Beyond Blue Note 1964 1963-09 Destination... Out! Blue Note 1964 1964-08 It's Time! Blue Note 1965 1964-09 Action Action Action Blue Note 1967 1965-01 Right Now! Blue Note 1966 1965-12 Consequence Blue Note 1979 LT series 1965-09, 1966-04 Jacknife Blue Note 1975 1966-12 Dr. Jackle SteepleChase 1979 1966-12 Tune Up SteepleChase 1981 1962-06, 1967-02 Hipnosis Blue Note 1978 1967-03 New and Old Gospel Blue Note 1968 1967-09 'Bout Soul Blue Note 1969 1967-12 Demon's Dance Blue Note 1970 1972-08 Live at Montmartre SteepleChase 1972 Live 1973-07 Altissimo with Lee Konitz, Gary Bartz and Charlie Mariano Philips 1973 1973-07 Ode to Super SteepleChase 1973 featuring Gary Bartz 1973-07 A Ghetto Lullaby SteepleChase 1974 Live 1973-07 The Meeting SteepleChase 1974 Live featuring Dexter Gordon 1973-07 The Source SteepleChase 1974 featuring Dexter Gordon (Vol. 2) 1974-08 Antiquity with Michael Carvin SteepleChase 1975 1974-10 New York Calling SteepleChase 1974 with the Cosmic Brotherhood (Billy Skinner, René McLean, Billy Gault, James "Fish" Benjamin, Michael Carvin) 1976-04 Like Old Times with Mal Waldron Victor (JP) 1976 1978-04 New Wine in Old Bottles East Wind (JP) 1978 1978-11 –1979-01 Monuments RCA 1979 1985-04 It's About Time with McCoy Tyner Blue Note 1985 1986-09 Left Alone '86 with Mal WaldronPaddle Wheel 1986 Live 1988-11 Dynasty Triloka 1990 featuring René McLean 1991-01 Rites of Passage Triloka 1991 featuring René McLean 1991-04 The Jackie Mac Attack Live Birdology/Verve 1993 Live 1992-03 Rhythm of the Earth Antilles/Birdology 1992 1996-01 Hat Trick Somethin' Else (JP) 1996 with Junko Onishi 1997-07 Fire & Love Somethin' Else (JP)/Blue Note 1997 1999-06 Nature Boy Somethin' Else (JP)/Blue Note 1999 Compilations Complete 1955-1957 Quartet Quintet Sextet Sessions (Jazz Connections, 2007) – comprises Presenting... Jackie McLean up to Fat Jazz The Complete Jubilee Sessions (Lone Hill Jazz, 2008) – combines Fat Jazz and Jackie McLean Quintet
As sideman The sortable table's default is the date of the recording session. An asterisk (*) behind the album's title signifies only a minor contribution by McLean to the recording.