Jackie McLean

Jazz musician, educator, and activist

• Born: May 17, 1932
• Birthplace: Harlem, New York
• Died: March 31, 2006
• Place of death: Hartford, Connecticut

McLean was a transitional figure in jazz between hard bop of the 1950’s and modal and experimental jazz of the 1960’s. He also was an innovative educator and social activist for urban children.

Early Life

John Lenwood McLean, Jr., was born in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, New York, on May 17, 1932. This neighborhood was one of New York’s music centers. McLean’s father, John, was guitarist for Tiny Bradshaw’s band, and McLean grew up in close proximity to stars in the jazz world, including Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins.

When McLean was seven, his father died. McLean’s early music tutelage fell to his godfather, Norman Cobbs. Cobbs acquainted the boy with gospel music but also frequently took him to the Apollo Theater. McLean’s idol was Charlie Barnet and he decided to become a saxophonist. After years of practicing on borrowed instruments, McLean acquired his own alto saxophone at age fifteen and began taking lessons seriously, first imitating the styles of Ben Webster and Lester Young, soloists of the prewar era.

McLean’s life changed when he heard Charlie Parker. From then on, McLean was a student of music’s structure rather than simply a player of songs. He shadowed Parker at clubs and followed him home by subway. Parker eventually became his tutor and encouraged the younger musician to find his own style rather than imitating others. Over the next couple of years, McLean evolved a shrill, powerful, and hard-blowing sound that became his trademark for the rest of his life. McLean also developed a heroin addiction during his association with Parker that haunted him for fifteen years.

Life’s Work

McLean’s distinctive style and commitment caught the attention of Bud Powell. Powell put McLean in contact with Miles Davis, who hired McLean to play on his 1951 recording Dig. Davis’s bands were mutable, and while McLean continued with him off and on for a year, he also gained experience with George Wallington, Gene Ammons, and Charles Mingus.

While playing with Mingus, McLean recorded a session as leader with Ad-Lib Records in October, 1955. It attracted little attention, but shortly afterward, he received a contract from Prestige Records that resulted in a dozen albums of material in two years. In 1957, McLean began an apprenticeship with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, which proved to be invaluable training for both his playing style and his writing skills.

In 1959, a series of drug charges led McLean to lose his cabaret card, without which he could not perform in clubs. This forced his exit from the Jazz Messengers, but thanks to a recommendation from Blakey, McLean was signed by Blue Note Records and entered the most innovative period of his career. McLean was given artistic control at Blue Note, and over the next couple of years, he surrounded himself with some of the greatest experimental musicians in contemporary jazz, such as Bobby Hutcherson, Grachan Moncur III, and Ornette Coleman.

McLean never lost his blues-oriented sensibilities, but interest in modal forms and concepts picked up from Coleman in the area of free jazz helped him hone a newer sound, beginning with his release of Let Freedom Ring in 1962. At this time, McLean was writing, arranging, and recording continuously, producing an incredible body of work.

McLean’s drug habit became serious, and in 1964, he was convicted on a drug possession charge and served six months in prison. Upon his release, McLean again began a flurry of writing and recording activity, producing approximately ten albums’ worth of material in about three years—but times were changing. Jazz sales plummeted during the mid-1960’s, and half of McLean’s new recordings went unreleased before Blue Note dropped him in 1968.

McLean succeeded in beating his drug addiction by 1965, but he was at a crossroads. Leaving New York, McLean moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and began a new life as an educator. The desire to learn and understand the structure of music had been with McLean for twenty years and he determined to bring this desire to others. He joined the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music as an instructor in 1968, and his passion and work ethic gained him the music directorship by 1972. He later established a bachelor of arts degree in music.

McLean was concerned with the lack of interest in jazz, particularly among young African Americans in the area. In 1970, he canvassed parents in poorer neighborhoods, offering to instruct their children in music and the history of jazz free of charge. That same year, McLean and his wife, Dollie, established the Hartford Artists’ Collective, a center for study of the African diaspora that encouraged and developed appreciation of not only music but also art, dance, theater, and general culture. The McLeans and volunteers from the jazz community supported and ran the center.

In 2000, the University of Hartford renamed its music program the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, and in 2001, McLean was recognized as Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. On March, 31, 2006, McLean died of cancer.

Significance

McLean was a technically proficient and exceptionally innovative jazz musician who overcame adversity and sought over the final three decades of his life to educate, encourage, and improve lives. He worked with many jazz legends and passed on their legacy to young musicians through his work in education.

Bibliography

Prince, David, and Nancy Ann Lee. “Jackie McLean” In MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide, edited by Steve Holtje and Nancy Ann Lee. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1998. Brief biography of McLean with discography and notes on his connections to other musicians.

Rosenthal, David. Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955-1965. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. McLean is among the artists discussed in this detailed description of the development of the hard bop style.

Voce, Steve. “Jackie McLean: Saxophonist with Passion and Fire.” The Independent, April 3, 2006. This obituary covers McLean’s childhood, early musical influences, and career in music and education.