Jackie McLean: Swing Swang Swingin' (180 g) (LP)

By 1959, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean had already been a fixture on the New York jazz scene for nearly a decade when he began recording as a bandleader for Blue Note. Throughout the 1950s, he had earned his stripes alongside bebop legends such as Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. His second Blue Note album, *Swing, Swang, Swingin’*, fully lives up to the title’s lively promise. With verve and a joy for playing, McLean leads the audience through a rousing program. As the quartet’s sole horn player, McLean’s unmistakable sound takes center stage: his distinctive, slightly harsh tone and his keen sense of modern harmony lend his passionate improvisations a special radiance. In addition to standards by Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, and Cole Porter, McLean presents a lively interpretation of Benny Golson’s “Stable Mates,” before the album concludes with his own blues composition, “116th and Lenox.” Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition: Stereo, mastered by Kevin Gray, pressed by Optimal on 180g vinyl, in a single sleeve