Jackie McLean – Bebop Royalty

Jackie Mclean was a great bebop alto saxophonist whose status and influence is too rarely discussed In my early jazz days, it took me a while to “get” Jackie McLean. His rather vinegary tone didn’t help, as did the fact that he could occasionally sound out of tune.  I also didn’t get the chance to hear him live as he rarely came to the U.K. in the years when so much of his time was devoted to teaching and proselytizing for bebop in the U.S. However, once I delved into his classic Blue Note catalogue from the 1960’s I became a confirmed admirer.

Throughout his long life, Mclean saw himself as an exemplar of the modern jazz canon, following in the footsteps of bebop’s founding fathers, Bird, Monk, & Bud Powell. And Mclean’s early life as a New York jazz musician carried so many of the resonances of the jazz life in that era; heroin addiction, exploitation by unscrupulous record companies and booking agents, loss of his New York cabaret card and therefore the right to appear in New York venues, incarceration, and recovery. All while continuing to produce music of great creativity and passion and going out of his way to offer recording and playing opportunities to upcoming younger musicians. 

Another feature of McLean’s life that was also generic to many jazz musicians of that era was the profound and practical support he received throughout from his wife, Dolly Mclean. With Dolly, Jackie was able to support and retain his family, procure gigs and recording contracts, co-found their own record label and embark on a long and distinctive teaching career that focused strongly on bringing jazz into the musical mainstream of disadvantaged American communities. I plan to devote further episodes to other jazz wives, the unsung heroines of the jazz life in the bebop era and beyond.

What, along with Sonny Rollins, marks Mclean out was that he was born and raised in Harlem and grew up knowing, listening to and being supported by the founding fathers of bebop. He was present as a listener as the bebop genre was being made, and very quickly became active as a distinctive player in the bebop business in New York. The legendary Bud Powell mentored him in his own distinctive way, and he enjoyed a deep personal relationship with Charlie Parker. He both benefitted from Parker’s tutelage but also suffered by comparison with Bird’s genius-not least in his own estimation.  Jackie Mclean was one of the very few people who were admitted into the inner circle of Thelonious Monk.

Hence my description of McLean as “bebop royalty”. He didn’t have to relocate to the jazz capital of the world. He was there from the outset. He was part of the story.

In preparing this piece I have returned to the chapter devoted to Jackie Mclean in AB Spellman’s classic Black Music-Four Lives in the Bebop Business.  Here’s Spellman summarising Mclean’s early career,

“Jackie Mclean is said to have” paid his dues”, meaning that he has worked his way up through the more respected bands and that he has suffered all the slings and arrows of the jazz life. He has held jobs and recorded with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Arty Blakey and many many more. Jackie Mclean was a drug addict for much of his adult life, yet he has managed to raise three children who are conspicuous among teenagers for their sanity”.

Jackie’s son Rene went on to establish his own career as a saxophonist and educationalist and often shared the bandstand with his father.

Jackie was a quintessential survivor. He was also unusual for jazz musicians of his generation in his willingness to talk about his drug addiction openly and in real-time. He toured in Jack Gelber’s 1959 play “The Connection” based on a realistic portrayal of modern jazzers. Jackie was part of the ensemble in both the New York and London productions. Here’s Jackie directly quoted by AB Spellman on the prevalence of addiction within jazz in the 40s and 50s,

“Why did so many musicians use drugs? In the Forties, times were harder than they are now…Everyone had troubles and heroin made you forget your troubles. It doesn’t make your life too realistic, but it relaxes you and takes things off your mind, troubles, you know. It doesn’t give you hallucinations and make you think that the world is a bowl of cherries, but it does take your mind off your troubles”.

Jackie Mclean had the capacity and strength of character to quit narcotics, to remake his life and to live an active musical life through to his mid-70’s. So many of his generation, among them Fats Navarro, Sonny Clark, Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers and many, many more didn’t…and died too young.

Another defining feature of McLean’s life from mid-career was his establishing and leading, with Dolly Mclean, the Artists Collective, “dedicated to preserving the art and culture of the African Diaspora” at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, Connecticut. The rather idiosyncratic documentary, Jackie Mclean on Mars, focuses on his life as an educationalist while providing him with a platform for some trenchant observations on contemporary jazz life. The shorter interview with his friend and fellow resident on Sugar Hill, Sonny Rollins provides some interesting background on Jackie’s early life.