Jackie McLean

Jackie McLean的上半辈子，是一个高超的的“后帕克比波普”硬核，一个以锋利著称的时尚嬉皮爵士乐手。他的音乐也是响当当的硬波普。锋利的刀口完全可以切断所有其他乐手的寸断柔情。反过头来，人们又拿着他的作品和那些波普音乐的创始人比试。直到1956年，他加入Mingus的大乐团后，真实的Jackie 才开始慢慢显露出来。和Migus在一起的合作，注定是不愉快和短命的。但是没有那位“暴君”不停的指责他对parker大鸟的抄袭，或许Jackie的人生将不会是我们在他的音乐中听到的那样。“爪哇猿人的直立行走”（Pithecanthropus Erectus ）这张专辑,是第一张后波普爵士专辑，其中的作品每首都是长篇巨著，令人印象深刻，而且充满旷野和一种社会意识。演奏中充满不和谐音符和令人眩晕的效果。Jackie的高音萨克斯在布鲁斯乐句和尖啸的高音之间转换和交梭。在和Mingus大叔理所当然的对峙了一段时间之后，Jackie和贝斯手离开了那个让他不舒服，但是打开他艺术之门的乐队。他小心的收藏起Mingus的教诲，又和以前一样，演奏起他的硬波普爵士乐来。当由Ornette Coleman和Cecil Taylor领军的自由爵士乐进化到如日中天的时候，爵士乐的格局已经是泾渭分明。像Miles Davis和Charles Mingus这样的历来革新者在各自的分水岭中保持同对方适度的距离。但是对那些依然还在串场演出的音乐家来说，这是必须做出抉择，而Jackie McLean是同辈人中第一个跨越界限的人。当然后来的年轻音乐家，像John Coltrane或者Eric Dolphy，领着他们那一代人组成的一大批乐手，也多少穿越了这个界限，但是和Jackie McLean相比，根本算不上特立独行：他没有在当时立即决定，而是在认真地反思、判断自己做为一名音乐家的品性，反复思考Charles Mingus的教诲和两者之间的联系之后才做出决断。Ornette Coleman的音乐是Jackie在转型期间最为主要的影响和催化剂，但是在我认为，还是Mingus是当之无愧的自由爵士之父，也是Jackie真正的音乐源泉。
 
by Scott Yanow
Jackie McLean has long had his own sound, played slightly sharp and with great intensity; he is recognizable within two notes. McLean was one of the few bop-oriented players of the early 50s who explored free jazz in the 60s, widening his emotional range and drawing from the new music qualities that fit his musical personality.
 
The son of guitarist John McLean (who played guitar with Tiny Bradshaw), Jackie started on alto when he was 15. As a teenager he was friends with such neighbors as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins. He made his recording debut with Miles Davis in 1951 and the rest of the decade could be considered his apprenticeship. McLean worked with George Wallington, Charles Mingus and Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers (1956-58). He also participated on a string of jam session-flavored records for Prestige and New Jazz which, due to the abysmal pay and his developing style, he has since disowned. Actually they are not bad but pale compared to McLeans classic series of 21 Blue Note albums (1959-67). On sessions such as One Step Beyond and Destination Out, McLean really stretches and challenges himself; this music is quite original and intense yet logical. McLean also appeared as a sideman on some sessions for Blue Note, acted in the stage play The Connection (1959-61) and led his own groups on a regular basis. By 1968, however, he was moving into the jazz education field and other than some SteepleChase records from 1972-74 (including two meetings with his early idol Dexter Gordon) and an unfortunate commercial outing for RCA (1978-79), McLean was less active as a player during the 1970s. However in the 1980s Jackie McLean returned to a more active playing schedule (sometimes with his son René McLean on tenor), recording for Triloka, Antilles and most recently (with a renewed relationship) with Blue Note — without losing the intensity and passion of his earlier days.