As the title suggests, this is a very bluesy album and a great example of how down and dirty Jackie McLean can get. McLean’s “bitter-sweet”, “piercing”, or “searing”, a slightly sharp pitch sound makes him very bluesy but has a confusing effect on the ears of newcomers who have not heard him before. Its the sharp piercing that sort of surprises the listener at first but after a few tunes, one will understand the passion behind his playing. Great album, you need it!
About the album:
Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was and remains one of the most distinctive of Charlie Parker’s acolytes, with a dissonant, bittersweet tone that was his alone. McLean was also among the 1950s hard boppers that favorably took to the avant-garde innovations of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. On 1961’s BLUESNIK, however, McLean is still tilling bop soil, though some small free influences were seeping in….Read More
