Jackie McLean - Swing, Swang, Swingin' (Blue Note Classic Series)

Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition on 180-gram LP

By the time Jackie McLean began recording as a leader for Blue Note in 1959, the alto saxophonist had already been a stalwart of the NYC jazz scene for nearly a decade having spent the entirety of the 1950s cutting his teeth alongside bebop legends like Miles Davis and Charles Mingus.

Recorded in October of that year, his second Blue Note album Swing, Swang, Swingin' fully delivered on the album title's emphatic promise with McLean blowing with gusto through a joyful set in a quartet featuring Walter Bishop Jr. on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. As the lone horn player, McLean's distinctive sound shines with his piquant tone and hip harmonic sense igniting impassioned improvisations. In addition to standards by Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, and more, McLean offers a bright version of Benny Golson's "Stable Mates" before closing with his own blues "116th and Lenox."

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal.