Customer Reviews

Bluesnik

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jackie McLean's "Bluesnik" is one of his best straight ahead bop sessions that he recorded for the Blue Note label. A few years after this session was made, Jackie ventured into a realm on the fine line between bebop and the avant-garde/free jazz of the 60s with albums like "Let Freedom Ring", "Destination Out" and "One Step Beyond". This album, however, was around the peak of Jackie's explorations that were solidly within the bop framework.

If you like Jackie McLean, classic Blue Note hardbop, or just innovative improvisational music by musicians who play with fiery passion restrained by the strength of their intellect - then this is the album for you.

"Bluesnik" features 6 songs that all have a "bluesy" mood even though they are not all technically blues in terms of their structure and harmonics.

Jackie McLean is his typical inspired self (did the man ever turn in an subpar effort?) and his solos show a penchant for the blues and convey a very deep visceral and emotional impact. The album features a supporting cast of Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums.

I disagree with the other reviewer who stated that Freddie Hubbard doesn't really perform well on this session. While Freddie Hubbard certainly turned in more inspired performances elsewhere - that is certainly not a negative reflection of his playing here. Rather, it is a reflection of his legendary performances as a sideman on such albums as "Speak No Evil", "Blues and the Abstract Truth", and "Maiden Voyage".

There is nothing particularly progressive about this music for its time - it is just high quality straight ahead jazz that will both mesmerize you on your first listen and adquately reward repeated listenings.

One word of caution, Jackie McLean is known for his sharp intonation on the alto sax. In my opinion, this is an integral part of his style which helps account for the uniqueness of his sound on the alto and for the emotive impact of his playing. However, for some listeners Jackie's intonation can be a distraction from the music. "Bluesnik" does feature some of the sharpest intonation in Jackie's discography.

If you are the type of person who insists on listening to soloists who play the saxophone with textbook intonation then you may get annoyed with Jackie's playing on "Bluesnik". However, if you are open to sounds that are not "technically" perfect but nonetheless perfectly fit the musical purposes of the artist employing them, then give "Bluesnik" a try. You won't be disappointed.

No one can play alto without standing in Bird's shadow, but McLean came tantalizingly close--briefly--in the early 60's. This album, while on the surface 6 congenial blues, reveals real, potent depths on repeated listens. McLean's solos, especially on the title track, are an uneasy reconciliation between bebop and "out". They're always threatening to explode out of their harmonic boundaries. Which makes the music always exciting, sometimes breathtaking. I would have liked to hear more of McLean and less of Hubbard, who's a little too brassy for this, but I'll take what I can get. Buy this before it goes back out of print.

Just for clarification, this review is based on the 2009 reissue of Bluesnik.

First off, this cd contains some great straight ahead blowing, particularly by the leader, the late great, Jackie McLean. The title track, Bluesnik features the best overall blowing of the session with passionate blowing from Jackie and I particularly like Kenny Drew's bright n' bouncy solo. Vastly underrated bassist Doug Watkins owns Drew's Blues with his pulsing walking bass lines setting the groove.

Unlike the previous 1987 release, Van Gelder elected to remaster this new one in mono just like he did with the recent reissue of the classic Soul Station by Hank Mobley. Why? Better ask him. Maybe it's 1950's nostalgia or something. I have the first 1987 issue, remastered by Ron McMaster in stereo and it sounds great. Ok, so we didn't get the extra photos n' fancy back then, but you can find them on the net if you Google Jackie.

Sound wise, for those who would care, it was Hubbard on the left channel, Jackie on the right and the rhythm section in the middle with the drums just slightly off to the right, the typical Van Gelder arrangement back then. I don't think you really miss anything sound wise with the new mono but good stereo just adds more interest and with all the nice sound systems nowadays, I feel cheated otherwise.

Whatever, this is a very nice and most welcome reissue from one of jazz's all time great alto saxophonists that belongs in any straight ahead bop collection.

What comes to my mind when listening to the great music here, is that it is an approach to the blues far different than the way Hank Mobely and his group approached it on Soul Station.
Mclean and his group are playing a whole album based on the 12 bar (or 16 bar) blues form, but they approach the blues from a whole different place. There is very little softness or gentleness here. The blues is attacked with full force by all participents, and the emotions projected are uncompromisingly rough.
Even the second track, which is at a slow tempo, is played double and triple time by Mclean and Hubbard.
I feel that the overall sound of the CD is very unique, and there are no relaxed, layed back moments that would ease the tension, as one might expect. This is why I would not recommend it as a blues album, but as a hard edged hard bop album based on the blues form.

What comes to mind when listening to the music here, is that it is the opposite of the way Hank Mobely and his group played on Soul Station.
Mclean and his group are playing a whole album based on the 12 bar (or 16 bar) blues form, but they approach the blues from a whole different place. There is no softness or gentleness here. The blues is attacked with full force by all participents. Even the second track, which is at a slow tempo, is played double and triple time by Mclean and Hubbard.
I feel that for the overall sound of the CD, some balance is missing, some relaxed, layed back moments that would ease the tension. This is why I would not recommend as a blues album, but as a hard edged hard bop album based on the blues form.

Jackie McLean is one of my favorite musicians and my alto sax hero, so I've purchased a number of the different CD releases of this recording over the years, including the early 90s Blue Note domestic release, the RVG remaster and now the XRCD24 Master. While I find that few remasters live up to the hype surrounding them (and some even detract from the sounds of the originals), this XRCD24 release unquestionably opens an entirely new dimension to the sound. Even on modest audio equipment there is an immediately obvious clarity, space and warmth to the sound that no other release has offered. The price is certainly exorbitant and I would be hard-pressed to justify spending this amount for many recordings. But, since this has been one of my favorites for decades, I decided to splurge... and I really feel it was well worthwhile for the vast improvement in sound.

Jackie McLean's "Bluesnik" was first issued on CD in 1989, but in the last few years it had drifted out-of-print. Twenty years later it thankfully gets the remastered star treatment via the RVG series. This January 8, 1961 session finds the alto saxophonist comfortably in the middle of his hard bop period, having not yet explored the new realms of "Let Freedom Ring" and "One Step Beyond" (see my review of the latter). Jackie is joined on this date by Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Kenny Drew on piano, both fresh off Drew's excellent Undercurrent recorded a month earlier, and the rhythm duo of Doug Watkins on bass and Pete LaRoca on drums. The selections are all original compositions -- one by Hub, two by Jackie Mac, and the remaining three by KD, including my personal favorite, the concluding track "Torchin'." (This CD also contains alternate takes of "Goin' Way Blues" and "Torchin'," as did the original disc.) The only reason I have to withhold a fifth star is this is one of those recordings where McLean's alto sounds just ever so slightly out of tune in certain places, particularly on solos. But don't let something so minor get you blue, "Bluesnik" is still a very worthwhile album and a delight to have available once again.

A 1961 album in which McLean explores the intersection of hard bop & the blues. If it was all as good as McLean's opening solo on the title track this album would be a masterpiece--this is a really remarkable solo that is strikingly poised & elegant & yet has the bite & hungriness that McLean's music always possesses. It points the way to the extended solos on McLean's great album _Let Freedom Ring!_. But the rest of the album is merely very good, & while Freddie Hubbard & Kenny Drew are good players they don't really play on the same level as the leader. A very good rhythm section--Doug Watkins & Pete La Roca--keeps everything on a nice boil. One curiosity: you can hear Hubbard quote Oliver Nelson's "Cascades" in his solo on "Bluesnik". This album was recorded 6 weeks before _Blues and the Abstract Truth_, on which Hubbard was to participate; so I infer that Hubbard must have recently attended a rehearsal for Nelson's album or been given the sheet music to work on before he stepped into the studio for McLean's album. Appropriately enough, both albums are concerned with the examination of blues structures via modern jazz styles.

Although this album has been justly praised by numerous reviewers for its classic Blue Note hard bop style and the superb playing of both McLean on alto sax and Hubbard on trumpet, I would like to add a few words of praise for pianist/composer Kenny Drew, one of the finest piano players of the hard bop school and the equal of the better-known Sonny Clark, in my estimation.

Although Bluesnik is primarily an album featuring the two horns, on several of the tunes Drew is afforded space to contribute soulful and musically stirring solo passages. These tunes include McLean's Goin' Way Blues, Kenny Drew's Drew's Blues and Torchin', and also Freddie Hubbard's Blues Function.

Anyone who enjoys Drew's playing and original compositions here should also check out his album Undercurrent, where a group that includes Hubbard, Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Sammy Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums perform six tunes, all written by Drew. Kenny Drew can also be heard on Jackie McLean's album Jackie's Bag, which I also recommend.

Highly recommended for all fans of jackie McLean, Freddie Hubbard, and for anyone who enjoys the hard bop style of jazz from the 1950s and 1960s.

I will keep this short and simple, buy every one of these and then contact Audio Wave and request more! These XRCD discs positively kill the RVG versions of some of Blue Note's best albums. I have compared these discs to Classic Records 200 Gram vinyl, and can honsetly say they sound as good if not better than records. There is air between instruments and none of the thin harsh digital sound associated with traditional CD's. The packaging and photos justify the $30.00 cost in my opinion.