Jackie McLean: Strange Blues

[Late]

Prestige 7500

Few play the blues like Jackie. Released ten years after it was recorded, and pulled together from three different sessions, this record works on its own terms. "Strange Blues" and "Not So Strange Blues" bookend the album, and display some of the grittiest McLean from the 50's. The tuba sextet tracks contain what I think are some of Ray Draper's best solos of the period — full of humor, song references, and a cleaner than usual articulation — all from a 16 year-old. It's one of my favorite Prestige dates.

When was the last time you spun this record? Impressions?

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Late

[Chuck Nessa]

Bunch of interesting leftovers of good quality. Not bad, not great. After buying the originals as they were released, this filled in some blank spaces. I was happy to get the lp and ultimately bought the cd.

If you have deeper connections, cherish them.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Chuck Nessa

[JSngry]

Thanks to Laton for his ongoing pimping of the McLean Prestiges. Long had a gap here (or in the case of CDs, a vacuum), and this thread was the straw that stirred the remediational 1-clicking this evening.

[jlhoots]

Not sure I can explain, but I really like everything Draper is on - McLean, Roach, Coltrane, his own.

[Joe]

Anything featuring McLean + Waldron gets both attention and affection from me. And I actually kind of like how lugubrious Draper could be... this may be hard bop, but these guys are not conventional hard boppers by any stretch of the imagination.

[Peter Friedman]

I was grabbed deep down by McLean back in my formative jazz years. Bought every one of his Prestige LPs when they were first released? Now have them all on CD. I share what Late said about how nobody plays the blues like Jackie.

Though I differ slightly about Ray Draper. His ensemble contributions are fine, but was never a fan of his solo playing..

[mjzee]

To me, Draper sounds like an elephant dancing. You know the old joke: it's not that he dances gracefully, it's a wonder that he dances at all. Valiant effort, just not suitable as a solo instrument.

[Late]

Bought every one of his Prestige LPs when they were first released?

Where were you buying your records in the 60's? You purchased Strange Blues around 1967?

I didn't buy my first jazz record (vinyl) until 1986 — I was Ray Draper's age! Vancouver, British Columbia. I forget the name of the store. The record was Tenor Madness. My saxophone teacher at the time told me that I should check out Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. I saw that record and thought, hey, both guys! That began my fascination with Sonny Rollins' work. Coltrane hit me about a year or so later. Then, in 1988, compact discs were flooding the market, and I stopped buying vinyl.

Another note about Strange Blues — I've always been interested in the one-off rhythm section of Jon Mayer (listed as John Meyers), Bill Salter, and Larry Ritchie. How did Jackie end up bringing them into the studio (and never again)? Here's what some internet research turned up:

• McLean knew Ritchie (drums) from The Connection. Ritchie played into the 60's, then shifted his focus to painting.

• Jon Mayer (piano) recorded with Ray Draper and John Coltrane for A Tuba Jazz, and then dropped out of the scene for around 13 years. He later re-emerged, still playing, in the Los Angeles area. He made quite a few records in the 80's and 90's. Anyone have any?

• Bill Salter (bass) went on to perform with a long and varied list of musicians: Miriam Makeba, Yusef Lateef, Roland Kirk, Lena Horne, Pearls Before Swine, The Bee Gees, Bette Midler, and more.

To me, Draper sounds like an elephant dancing.

I hear you. His solo work on his own record (Prestige) with Coltrane is fairly painful to my ears. The Strange Blues solos are much simpler, clearer, and as a result (to me) more rewarding.

[Steve Reynolds]

To me, Draper sounds like an elephant dancing. You know the old joke: it's not that he dances gracefully, it's a wonder that he dances at all. Valiant effort, just not suitable as a solo instrument.

It can be very suitable these days with some of the great modern musicians: Bob Stewart, Joe Daley, Pere Ake Holmlander, etc.

[Peter Friedman]

Bought every one of his Prestige LPs when they were first released?

Where were you buying your records in the 60's? You purchased Strange Blues around 1967?

I didn't buy my first jazz record (vinyl) until 1986 — I was Ray Draper's age! Vancouver, British Columbia. I forget the name of the store. The record was Tenor Madness. My saxophone teacher at the time told me that I should check out Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. I saw that record and thought, hey, both guys! That began my fascination with Sonny Rollins' work. Coltrane hit me about a year or so later. Then, in 1988, compact discs were flooding the market, and I stopped buying vinyl.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I grew up in Detroit and bought most of my LPs in a shop called The Land Of Hi Fi. The woman who ran the record department became a good friend of mine. She carried all the newest jazz releases and was a friend of most of the Detroit musicians who were on the verge of moving to New York. She was especially close to Barry Harris. Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer among others.

I moved from Detroit to Rochester New York in the summer of 1967, so it is possible I bought Strange Blues in Rochester?

It stays in my memory ,the day I wandered into the record shop in Detroit and found Jackie McLean's first LP on the Ad Lib label.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Peter Friedman

[Late]

It stays in my memory, the day I wandered into the record shop in Detroit and found Jackie McLean's first LP on the Ad Lib label.

Nice memory. Nice record, too. Though I hope your copy was less than $710!

[clifford_thornton]

$710 is cheap for that record.

Haven't dug out Strange Blues in years - will have to crack the CD storage boxes and find it again... I didn't even remember the rhythm section was such a curious one.

[Peter Friedman]

It stays in my memory, the day I wandered into the record shop in Detroit and found Jackie McLean's first LP on the Ad Lib label.

Nice memory. Nice record, too. Though I hope your copy was less than $710!

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Bought it when it was first released. The retail price I paid was somewhere on the range of $3.95

Sold the LP many years later, after I had a CD copy. While I don't recall the exact amount I got for it, but

It was somewhere around one thousand dollars.

[Guy Berger]

Bunch of interesting leftovers of good quality. Not bad, not great. After buying the originals as they were released, this filled in some blank spaces. I was happy to get the lp and ultimately bought the cd.

If you have deeper connections, cherish them.

Nicely stated, Chuck.

[Late]

Strange Blues

[Dub Modal]

I dig it. 

[Late]

Underrated?

[Dub Modal]

On 4/17/2022 at 3:15 PM, Late said:

Underrated?

If I'm not mistaken the guy says this is an underrated release due to...the liner notes? I enjoyed the story but I'm not sure I make the connection between this album being underrated and the content of the liner notes. 

[Late]

4 hours ago, Dub Modal said:

If I'm not mistaken the guy says this is an underrated release due to...the liner notes? I enjoyed the story but I'm not sure I make the connection between this album being underrated and the content of the liner notes. 

Truth. 

[JSngry]

He was talking about how much he enjoyed the Japanese liner notes, that's all.