Review by Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
No rating supplied
In the liner notes of the original release Jackie McLean (alto saxophone)
is recognized by noted jazz critic Ira Gilter as coming of age on
his 1956 album "4,5 And 6." The fifties jazz resurgence that seemed
reserved for the more famous African-American musicians such as Coltrane,
Davis and Rollins, was introduced to another candidate for the jazz
idiom to admire. McLean stepped out and was hard to ignore on this landmark recording.
The remarkable and timeless composition "Sentimental Journey" is given
a most proper and sensitive treatment by McLean's agile alto saxophone.
Parker's tour de force "Confirmation" is given the time and elasticity
to broaden itself beyond the norm with over eleven minutes in which
to do so. Each song is devoted to a triumphant return to the foundations
of jazz as seen through McLean's musical vision. He does not do one
original, yet it doesn't retract from the outstanding efforts of the
leader and his band. Donald Byrd (trumpet), Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone),
Mal Waldron (piano), Doug Watkins (bass), and Arthur Taylor (drums)
offer stalwart support for McLean to get each number off the ground and in flight.
This remastered version on CD makes it all that much more sweeter
and treasured than when it was originally released.
1. Sentimental Journey (Brown/Green/Homer) - 9:54
2. Why Was I Born? (Hammerstein/Kern) - 5:13
3. Contour (Drew) - 4:59
4. Confirmation (Parker) - 11:20
5. When I Fall in Love (Heyman/Young) - 5:32
6. Abstraction (Waldron) - 7:56
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