bertrand Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 (edited) I had a bad feeling this was coming, but it still hurts like hell. Thanks for all the beautiful music, Jackie. We will never forget you. By the way, he was 74, not 73. Bertrand. Edited April 2, 2006 by bertrand Quote
Soul Stream Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 This is really stunning. Out of all the passings, this one has hit me the hardest. I wrote Jackie a couple of years ago and he replied with the greatest letter of encouragement. I then saw him perform and Iridium with Grachan Moncur III and it was hands down the greatest jazz I've ever witnessed first hand. I mentioned the nice letter he had written me and he just said with tounge in cheek "Hey, that's the kind of dude I am." I'll never forget hearing and meeting him that night. Last of one of the true, true, true legends. Jackie. Quote
Tony Pusey Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Sad, perhaps the definitive passing of an era. Quote
sidewinder Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 (edited) Oh shit. This is awful news. Yet another of the great masters has passed away. What a great artist though and thankfully we can still enjoy his wonderful recordings. I'm just really glad I got to see him play several times, when at the time I thought there's no chance of ever getting to see him. Met him briefly for an autograph after one of those gigs and he was very courteous and by all accounts a nice guy. Hope he rests in peace. Back to back Jackie Mac on the hi fi today. Edited April 1, 2006 by sidewinder Quote
Soul Stream Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 I knew this was coming, but it still hurts like hell. Thanks for all the beautiful music, Jackie. We will never forget you. By the way, he was 74, not 73. Bertrand. Bertrand, did you know what caused his death? I hadn't heard anything about this, and when I saw him a year or so ago he looked great. Quote
Daniel A Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 A terrible, terrible loss. Jackie was one of the greatest. Quote
tonym Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Very sad news. Icon, legend and innovator. Call him what you will but what a contribution to music and what a legacy to, not so much leave behind, but to educate and enlighten. RIP. Quote
Johnny E Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Jazz alto saxophonist Jackie McLean dies at 73 By Stephanie Reitz, Associated Press Writer | March 31, 2006 HARTFORD, Connecticut --Jazz alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, a performer and educator who played with legendary musicians including Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, died Friday. He was 73. McLean, a contemporary of some of the 20th century's most famed jazz musicians, died at his Hartford home after a long illness, family members told The Hartford Courant. McLean was founder and artistic director of the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at the University of Hartford's Hartt School. He and his wife, actress Dollie McLean, also founded the Artists Collective, a community center and fine arts school in Hartford's inner city primarily serving troubled youth. University of Hartford President Walter Harrison said Dollie McLean called him Friday with news of her husband's death. Harrison said that despite his many musical accomplishments, McLean was a modest man whose connections with his students lasted for decades after they left his classroom. "He fully understood the way that jazz as an art should be passed down to students," Harrison said. "He saw his role as bringing jazz from the 1950s and '60s and handing it down to artists of today." McLean, a native of Harlem in New York City, grew up in a musical family, his father playing guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's band. McLean took up the soprano saxophone as a teen and quickly switched to the alto saxophone, inspired by his godfather's performances in a church choir, he told WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey, in an interview in 2004. McLean went on to play with his friend Rollins from 1948-49 in a Harlem neighborhood band under the tutelage of pianist Bud Powell. Through Powell, McLean met bebop pioneer Charlie "Bird" Parker, who became a major influence on the young alto saxophonist. He made his first recording when he was 19 on Miles Davis' "Dig" album, also featuring Rollins, which heralded the beginning of the hard-bop style. In the 1950s, McLean also played with Charles Mingus and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, experiences that he credited with helping him find his own style. "I never really sounded like Bird, but that was my mission," McLean said in the WBGO radio interview. "I didn't care if people said that I copied him; I loved Bird's playing so much. But Mingus was the one that really pushed me away from the idea and forced me into thinking about having an individual sound and concept." McLean made his first recording as a leader in 1955. He drew wide attention with his 1959 debut on Blue Note Records, "Jackie's Bag," one of dozens of albums he recorded in the hard-bop and free jazz styles for the label over the next eight years. His 1962 album "Let Freedom Ring" found him performing with avant-garde musicians. In 1959-60, he acted in the off-Broadway play "The Connection," about jazz musicians and drug addiction. McLean, a heroin addict during his early career, later went on to lecture on drug addiction research. In 1968, after Blue Note terminated his recording contract, McLean began teaching at the University of Hartford. He taught jazz, African-American music, and African-American history and culture, setting up the university's African American Music Department, which later was named in his honor. He took a break from recording for much of the 1980s to focus on his work as a music educator, but made his recording comeback in 1988 with "Dynasty," and later re-signed with Blue Note. His last Blue Note recordings included "Fire and Love" (1998), featuring his youthful Macband with son Rene McLean on tenor saxophone, and the ballads album "Nature Boy" (2000). He received an American Jazz Masters fellowship, the nation's highest jazz honor, from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001, and toured the world as an educator and performer. Quote
kinuta Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Sad news indeed but not totally unexpected. I've loved his music ever since I first heard him with Mingus. Anyhow he left a fine set of recordings for us and all future jazz fans to enjoy. Quote
Claude Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 R.I.P. Jackie My all-time favourite alto player Quote
B. Goren. Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 His Mosaic set will find the way this evening to my CD player. Great sessions with Tolliver and Grachan Moncur. This is the right time to listen to it again. Quote
MartyJazz Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Another great light extinguished. This one is really crushing. First on the playlist today, "Subdued". Quote
webbcity Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 I had no idea he was so sick. This is terrible news. Quote
Hardbopjazz Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Just saddnes is all I am felling. Thanks Jackie all the great music you gave the world. You may be gone, but you're music will live till the end of time. Quote
Hardbopjazz Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 (edited) Jackie's horn from the stage of the Iridium, May 27, 2004. Edited April 2, 2006 by Hardbopjazz Quote
ASNL77 Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 Very sad news. He made me love jazz as much as I do. R.I.P. Jackie Quote
Kevin Bresnahan Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 This is terrible news. I know Jackie wasn't a young man and that this event happens to us all, but it doesn't lessen my sadness. Jackie was something to see on a stage. I was fortunate to see him many times. The thing that always amazed me about his playing style was how "solid" it sounded. Jackie really blew that horn. No microphones were needed. I'll always remember that show at the Vanguard a few years ago. I made Josh Heisler sit with me at the table in front of Jackie's microphone. I could read the "Jackie McLean" etched into the bell. What a show!! Jackie with Cedar, David Williams and Smilin' Billy. Now half that band is gone. But they gave me a memory that I'll always have. Thanks Jackie. RIP. Quote
Stereojack Posted April 1, 2006 Report Posted April 1, 2006 RIP, Jackie. I feel like I've lost an old friend. Actually, I have. Jackie was one the most individual voices in music, always instantly recognizeable. His tone is swirling around in my head as I type these words. What a drag. He gave us dozens or really classic recordings. My favorites include: A Long Drink of the Blues Bluesnik A Fickle Sonance Destination Out One Step Beyond Action (I'll stop here, 'cause I could easily add six more.) Farewell, old buddy. Quote
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