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January 2005:
During the year 1962, alto saxophonist Jackie
McLean left New York to play a series of gigs in Boston. During his New
England engagement he was introduced to 17 year old drummer Tony
Williams. McLean liked Williams’ playing so much that he invited him
to stay with him in New York and make a few needed connections on the
jazz scene there. Jackie introduced the public to Tony with his 1963
album One Step Beyond. This Blue Note album included two
original compositions by the alto saxophonist and two originals by
trombonist Grachan Moncur III. Vibe player Bobby Hutcherson is also
featured on the album; his surreal, dreamlike harmonic textures
significantly add to the date’s creative output. As well as penning
half the album, McLean also wrote the liner notes for the session.
One Step Beyond opens with a composition entitled Saturday and
Sunday. The rare edition that I have includes an alternate take of
this McLean original piece. The other one of Jackie’s compositions is
called Blue Rondo. This number is upbeat and gives Hutcherson
room to stretch out while staying up on Tony Williams’ beat. My
favorite song from the session is Moncur’s Ghost Town; McLean’s
improvisation on a minor blues form is sensational! The other
composition, Frankenstein, features the Moncur trademark of an
out-of-time intro theme (like in Evolution). With the wide
variety contained within the four compositions, the date reaches across
two genres: it is both avant-garde and hard-bop.
Back when Bird was
around Jackie Mac use to shadow him, and even sat in with his band once
(Charlie Parker would come around and borrow his saxophone on
occasions.) I would have to think that McLean learned a lot from his
years in Parker’s entourage. One day the two of them were walking down
the street together and Bird all of the sudden pointed to an iced fish
at the market. He said to McLean “Do you see that?”, and Jackie
responded to Bird, “Yes, it’s a fish”. But Bird wasn’t talking about
the actual fish; he was referring to the colorful reflection produced by
its scales. This is when McLean realized that Bird noticed things that
other people didn’t notice. I hear that type of ingenuity and
out-of-the-box thinking throughout McLean’s playing on One Step
Beyond.
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