Customer Reviews

New Soil

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Jackie McLean's "New Soil" is a really great album. One of his first Blue Note dates, the music is fairly advanced hard bop and the band is fantastic. The rehearsal time that Alfred Lion always gave his artists really paid off. One of the best things about the album is that attention was really paid to the songs as songs - this is not just a blowing session. There was some careful work done with the writing and the playing. "Hip Strut," an 11-minute blues, kicks off the album with a laid-back groove that was obviously perfect for the group. The combined sound of McLean's alto and Donald Byrd's trumpet is exciting, especially because of McLean's always-recognizable tone, always a little bit sharp. "Minor Apprehension" burns, with a contribution by drummer Pete LaRoca Sims of what was probably the first recorded "free" drum solo. The four originals by pianist Walter Davis Jr have their own special feeling. Davis' writing style is very lyrical and inventive, with some great harmonies between the two horns, whether in the boogie blues "Greasy" or the rhumba/swing of "Formidable." Can't forget to mention the always rock-solid playing of Paul Chambers (just weeks after finishing "Kind of Blue"). Solos are uniformly great all around. This album always puts me into a good mood. I highly recommend it.

I picked this up immediately following a Jackie Mclean performance at the iridum in New York. Jackie can still blow by the way.
The arrangements here are all very strong and Jackie's tone and playing is crisp and very cool. The real surprise on this cd are the compositions from pianist Walter Davis Jr. His tunes are fantastic vehicles for this band to work out on. Davis' blues/stride piano style on track 3 lays a great foundation for some excellent soloing from both Jackie and Donald Byrd. Byrd is not as technically exciting as a Lee Morgan or Clifford Brown but is strong here and in combination with Mclean creates a nice overall effect. Paul Chambers is solid as always and the drumming of Pete La Roca is steady.
The Bluesy third track Greasy is a real standout and so is the final track Formidable. The rest of the cuts are good solid bop playing from a group that deserves to be checked out again.

McLean's May 1959 recording shows the budding influence of the avant-garde, as later in the same month Ornette Coleman would record his landmark "Shape of Jazz to Come". "Minor Apprehension" gives Pete LaRoca a solo spot to display his rhythmic interpretation of the new school of jazz. Walter Davis "Greasy" is old school boogie-woogie, but Jackie's solo pushes it beyond the familiar and well-trodden. Donald Byrd is impressive right out of the gate, playing fast flurries of notes on his first solo, and he uses echo effectively in his "Sweet Cakes" solo. Paul Chambers gets a nice bowed solo on "Hip Strut".

Jackie McLean - Sax (Alto)
Pete La Roca - Drums
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Paul Chambers - Bass
Walter Davis, Jr. - Piano

Finally, with Blue Note Jackie mclean and Co. were given the time and opportunity to practice/rehearse/jam before the tape started rolling. Not to disparage records like Mcleans Scene, Strange Blues, Alto-Madness etc... for they are wonderful but all are extremely loose and seem to tetter at times not emotionally but in a what the hell is coming next kind of way which is beautiful...its just on New Soil a little preconceiving seems to have let things grow unhindered. Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers bass, Walter Davis Jr. piano, and Pete La Roca on drums...an oak-solid band who swing in and out of Mcleans furrowed like phrases...relentlessly. I highly recommend this music.

Coltrane... schmoltrane...

No, I dig train... but Jackie McClean as far as I'm concerned was THE MAN...

This album presents a vehicle for him to blow his living butt off... At times he can be very Parker-esque, but he also stretches out here, though is still very much in the old school bop meets modern hard bop bag...

The rhythm section is Paul Chambers and Pete La Roca who takes a really imaginative solo on MINOR APPREHENSION...

One thing I love about this album is that even though the band is very tight and well rehearsed, there's also a lot of imagination and interplay. (Jackie mentions in the liners that Blue Note gave him 5 weeks of studio time to put it together.)

Another strong point of the album is how much variety there is... though blues based it goes from a real "out there" blowing vehicle to GREASY, which is a very old school Louis Jordan meets Count Basie type boogie woogie (at least for the head) - -

Jackie's solo is also distinctly different than on the other blues on this album... here, he plays more to the space and lays back. That's also what was cool about Jackie... he could go in Dolphy-esque directions, but at other times, he could simply blow blues, and it always sounded effortless.

The presence of Walter Davis Jr. in itself takes the album to new levels... Davis was just as much an old school bopper with a bit of Peterson in him, but he could be very imaginative... and here he really embellishes the solos... His own solos also show a lot of variety and influences but at the same time in the moment-ness... He was definitely a pianist's pianist... as for Donald Byrd... this is him on a particularly good day... in fact a great one.... he and McLean are tight on the heads, and like Blue Mitchel, he's sharp and edgy, and has plenty of tricks up his sleeves. - - Paul Chambers also gets in a great solo on Greasy... its really funny how the piano and high hat sneak around in there to embellish what he's doing... and when the band's back with that old school boogie woogie but with that bright hard bop horn phrasing WOW !

Sweet Cakes is a cute Latin number... Jackie is really in his Parker bag for this one, though the changes are more "of the era"... and Davis Cup is a cute uptempo bop number, also Bird Bag meets Post Blakey bop - - Mr. PC gets to take out his bow for a solo... I love La Roca's drumming which is both "light" yet tight on the back beat... there's some wild interplay going on... though the last four tunes weren't as tight as the first four tunes on the album, they're definitely worth the listening.

All in all, the year is 1959, and wow... was Jackie hip !

If you like this one, dig Swing, Swang, Swinging !

The last track is called "Formidable," and the album is formidable. Mr. McLean is a worthy leader -- although the band is excellent, he's still better than the others. He's less relentlessly on the beat, for example.

Although Donald Byrd's playing is a bit unimaginative, he and his brilliant tone still make the music interesting. The rhythm section provides some interesting contrasts with the horn players. Walter Davis's more restrained piano, for example, strikes the right note after the horn solos.