No Messing Around: The Jackie Mac Attack Live

This is some of the hottest music I've listened to in quite a while. I've always loved Jackie McLean's music but I have to plead ignorance about most of his post- Blue Note output. I've read that in his later years, his teaching duties took him away from performing, and even that his playing suffered as a result. On The Jackie Mac Attack Live, recorded at a jazz club in Belgium in 1992, "attack" is the operative word. From the first notes of Cyclical, the first track, McLean is burning. No matter what the tune or tempo, he really chews up the music . Ably abetted by the wonderfully named South Africa Pianist Idris Hotep Galeta, with strong support from the fine drummer Carl Allen (I heard him a couple of years ago with the Mack Avenue All Stars) and bassist Nat Reeves, this is a no BS, hard-charging recording from start to finish. Note: The CD I bought was billed as "new," but I had serious playback issue on a couple of tracks; when I looked at the disk, it looked worse than a lot of used CDs I've seen. Just sayin...

For a taste, here's Minor March. 

Everybody's Favorite Unknown Pianist: Jack Wilson's Easterly Winds

Someone once jokingly referred to Jack Wilson as “everyone’s favorite unknown jazz pianist.” It’s true, though, that for someone who recorded several albums for Blue Note and a number of other labels, Wilson doesn’t get much love from the wider jazz audience (if there is such a thing these days). I’ve sometimes wondered, only somewhat facetiously, if it’s because “Jack Wilson” is such a bland name. If his contemporaries had nicknamed him “Sonny” or “Fats,” maybe it would have raised his profile.

His profile is well worth raising, though. Take Easterly Winds, his second album for Blue Note, recorded in 1967. With a front line of Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, and the lamentably little-known Garnett Brown on Trombone, and a rhythm section of Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins, it has a lot going for it even before you hear the music.

Most of the compositions are Wilson’s, except for Frank Strozier’s Frank’s Tune and Johnny Mandel’s ballad A Time for Love, the latter of which features Wilson in a trio setting and highlights both his excellent technique and feeling. I really like Wilson the composer. Musicians looking for something fresh ought to investigate the title tune and Nirvanna, both of which have that spiritual jazz uplift feeling that means so much to me. Do It, the obligatory “let’s try for another Sidewinder” effort gets nice and funky, with a solid bop gutbucket solo by Brown. I’m a sucker for Jackie Mac’s astringent, passionate alto, and Lee Morgan’s contributions are, as always, a reminder of how much we lost when he died so young. On Children, with a crisp Billy Higgins opening, is another fine track.

Maybe Jack Wilson isn’t so neglected after all. In a couple of weeks, a previously unreleased set, Call Me -Jazz from the Penthouse, featuring Wilson and vibraphonist Roy Ayers, is coming out on CD, and based on their work together on other recordings, a great combination.

Here are Nirvanna and Easterly Winds for your delectation.