We'll Keep Loving You: Jackie McLean

[ghost of miles]

I had planned to do a different McLean program this summer, but that's been postponed...

This week on Night Lights we offer a special tribute to the late alto saxophonist, Jackie McLean, who passed away on Friday, March 31, 2006. McLean came up in the Harlem jazz scene as a teenager in the late 1940s, befriending and playing with bebop progenitors Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. In the 1950s he worked and recorded with Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Art Blakey, in addition to making his own records as a leader for Prestige. A struggle with drug addiction slowed his development, but it also aided his convincing portrait of an addicted musician in the play and movie The Connection. His recordings for the Blue Note label in the 1960s are considered to be some of the finest examples of the era’s hardbop and avant-garde jazz. McLean was also one of the pioneers of the jazz-education movement, developing a jazz-studies program for the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

I have always told people that Jackie McLean is one of the “patron saints” of Night Lights; his sharp, bittersweet sound had an intensity that seemed to reflect a passionate apprehension of life in all of its aspects. As one jazz fan said to me regarding his death, “Jackie has always been what this music is all about, to me. He was a man that always put his guts on the line when he played.” “We’ll Keep Loving You: Jackie McLean” will air this Saturday evening at 11:05 on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central time on WNIN-Evansville. The program will be posted to the Night Lights archives Monday afternoon.

Next week: "Songs of Peace."

Edited April 8, 2006 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Up for broadcast in 20 minutes on WNIN-Evansville and one hour and 20 minutes on WFIU.

Because the August 21, 2004 Night Lights show already focused exclusively on McLean's collaborations with Grachan Moncur, I didn't include any in this program. Ditto for a certain hardbop hero (show already planned and now postponed). Speaking of Moncur, I just picked up the BYG CD reissue that came out this week. No chance to listen yet--anybody else get it?

[alocispepraluger102]

Up for broadcast in 20 minutes on WNIN-Evansville and one hour and 20 minutes on WFIU.

Because the August 21, 2004 Night Lights show already focused exclusively on McLean's collaborations with Grachan Moncur, I didn't include any in this program. Ditto for a certain hardbop hero (show already planned and now postponed). Speaking of Moncur, I just picked up the BYG CD reissue that came out this week. No chance to listen yet--anybody else get it?

sumptuous as all get out. could not have been better done....see why you had to do it now. THANKS

[ghost of miles]

Up for broadcast in 20 minutes on WNIN-Evansville and one hour and 20 minutes on WFIU.

Because the August 21, 2004 Night Lights show already focused exclusively on McLean's collaborations with Grachan Moncur, I didn't include any in this program. Ditto for a certain hardbop hero (show already planned and now postponed). Speaking of Moncur, I just picked up the BYG CD reissue that came out this week. No chance to listen yet--anybody else get it?

sumptuous as all get out. could not have been better done....see why you had to do it now. THANKS

Hey, thanks, I'm really glad that you liked it. It should be archived by tomorrow afternoon.

[ghost of miles]

"We'll Keep Loving You: Jackie McLean" is now archived.

[Big Al]

"We'll Keep Loving You: Jackie McLean" is now archived.

And a lovely show it is, too. Beautifully paced. Makes me wish HIGH FREQUENCY was in print for "Moonscape." That high-pitched cry in "I'll Keep Loving You" is the sound of my jazz soul mourning the loss of a legend.

[ghost of miles]

We're re-airing the Jackie McLean program this weekend on WFIU and WNIN. It's already archived for listening under the April 8, 2006 date.