Action

Artist: Jackie McLean
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Original recording remastered
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 724359649924
EAN: 0724359649924
ASIN: B0002A2VJQ

Release Date: 2004-06-29

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Listmania:

Jackie McLean: His Best CDs
Jackie Mclean (1932-2006), Part 3
JackieSuperMcLean
The Opinionated Bugger's 2004 Highly Recommended List
Bobby Hutcherson as a Sideman

Tracks:

Action
Plight
Wrong Handle
I Hear A Rhapsody
Hootman

Similar Items:

Right Now!
A Fickle Sonance
Jacknife
It's Time
Let Freedom Ring

Customer Reviews:

A Review of Jackie Mclean, Action.......2005-11-03

Usually, I know I can't go wrong with Jackie Mclean... And I rarely do. I just purchased Jackie's A Fickle Sonance and loved it.

I know Mclean as a hard bop, or straight ahead alto saxophone player. My first encounter with him was on Sonny Clark's 1958 release, Cool Struttin. Then I bought A Fickle Sonance. Both albums farely straight ahead.

Then I bought this album. This album is somewhat avant garde. It says in the liner notes that Mclean said that he likes to go "out there" but eventually, he wants to come back "in." And I think that is one of the reasons he's a very diverse player.

You'll be listening to him swinging with Sonny Clark, then you pop in Action, and you got this modal stuff happening.

I haven't got into this album yet. Bobby Hutcherson leaves me cold. But the tunes are pretty nice. Not by any means a dissapointing release, but a change from what I knew about Mclean.

No doubt, he is an amazing player.

Arguably the best reissue of 2004........2004-07-01

This promises to be one of the more important reissues of 2004. During the mid-Sixties, Jackie McLean made a series of albums for Blue Note that were as great as anything else that that company issued. One of the great mysteries of the label is that until recently some of this material (the 1964-1966 sessions) was available only on a limited edition Mosaic box. Someone at the label has come to their senses and begun to release these great sides. I am talking about the following albums: It's Time, Action, Right Now!, Consequences, Jacknife and High Frequency. Blue Note to my knowledge has reissued Jacknife, and Right Now! It's Time is available on a Japanese import.
This current reissue is a 1964 date that featured McLean on the alto, his great bandmate of the period, Charles Tolliver on the trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on the vibes, Cecil McBee on the bass and Billy Higgins on the drums. McLean during this period utilized the writings talents of Tolliver and this album is no exception. Two of the tunes, Plight and Wrong Handle are from Tolliver's pen. McLean penned the title tune. They also play I Hear a Rhapsody and a blues called Hootman.
Part of what makes the McLean/Tolliver combination from this period so fruitful was the way that they each were trying to incorporate the radical changes of the new jazz of the period into their bop background. They would write songs without changes or just play outside the changes. McLean during this period continued to develop one of the most distinctive and personal sounds in the history of the alto sax. Tolliver, on the other hand, has a more traditional tone, that he puts to great use on ballads. He was also a soloist of great intelligence with the ability to surprise constantly with the way he would develop the melodic arc of his solo. In this I find him comparable to Wayne Shorter at this same period of time.
Blue Note should be acknowledged for reissuing this music. I guess the larger question is why was it ever out of print? There are several people who produced great series of albums for Blue Note during this period- Andrew Hill, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Grant Green, Grachan Moncur III, etc.. As I asserted earlier, McLean's albums are as great as any. This CD belongs in any jazz collection. I am somewhat abashed to admit that I have been listening to this music on a CDR. I already have mine ordered. Snap it up, people, while you have the chance.

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