JACKIE McLEAN
Nature Boy (Blue Note)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Although he has produced fine music throughout his career, it's commonly held that Jackie McLean's definitive work was done on the Blue Note label during the sixties, when he turned out 21 releases as a leader for the legendary jazz label. One of the good news items in recent times is that Blue Note is back. Another one is that Jackie is back with them.

Nature Boy matches McLean with a rhythm section that includes pianist Cedar Walton, bassist David Williams and drummer Billy Higgins. Williams and Higgins have been central players in some of Walton's best work of the last two decades, so there's an affinity among the trio that provides a platform for some wonderfully expressive play by McLean. McLean and Walton also have a considerable and successful history together. McLean possesses one of the most distinctive alto sounds on the scene, readily identifiable by his use of the upper range of the instrument and a somewhat sharp and reedy sound that's better than the description indicates. Describing a genuinely personal sound and style is the shortage of handy points of comparison. In other words, Jackie McLean is incomparable.

All of the players are masters of bop, but have the ability to move outside at will, and they weave in and out through this set of eight standards. When they're on the melody, they state the themes as plainly and beautifully as the composers could have hoped. When it's time to take a chorus, they can and do go in any direction they like. The directions they like, though, invariably show impressive taste and judgement.

This disc has all the earmarks of a master class in contemporary jazz, but that doesn't imply that there's anything coldly academic about the session. It's as heartfelt and expressive as it is masterfully played.

Track List:

You Don't Know What Love Is * Nature Boy * I Can't Get Started With You * What Is This Thing Called Love * I Fall In Love Too Easily * Smoke Gets In Your Eyes * Star Eyes * A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

© 2000 - Shaun Dale