Rudy Van Gelder was a renowned sound engineer who for a while in the 1950s and 1960s seemed to be a part of almost every jazz recording of any importance. Working for Blue Note, Prestige and others during that era, he produced recordings that were as perfect, crisp and sharp as could be made, given the equipment at that time.
In 1999, Blue Note gave him the chance to re-master many of his original recordings for modern digital equipment, and the final result of that process is available for serious jazz fans, if you have $1739, which is the price for the 171 CD set on Amazon. For those of us with more restrictive budgets, there is an alternative. Prestige Records (now part of Concord) began last year to issue a series of individual jazz albums re-mastered by Van Gelder. The intention is to continue adding to the series periodically, and judging from the quality of both the music and the sound, let's hope they do.
In this review, we're going to focus on an individual album called 4, 5 and 6, featuring alto saxman Jackie McLean and his group. McLean was very active in the jazz world during the bebop and post-bop period, although he's not as well known today as some of the others from the era. He had a distinctive style that was intense, bold and occasionally a little reedy, and on this album (originally recorded in 1956) he was a young man in full instrumental voice.
There's little doubt that he was the leader of the group and is the main soloist on every tune, but there is room for some quality work by his sidemen, including Donald Byrd on trumpet, pianist Mal Waldron, drummer Art Taylor and bassist Doug Watkins. The group is also occasionally joined by Hank Mobley on tenor sax, most notably on the group's interpretation of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation," which also features strong work by Byrd.
Article comments
1 - Ben Miraski
Abstraction is a great track on this album. Perfect for a lazy Sunday.
McLean is one of my favorite altos, and he definitely does have his own unique style, albeit a little harsh and straight at times.
McLean really starts to branch out later in his career and his writing improves greatly, with Destination Out and Let Freedom Ring.
2 - Pico
Thanks for the review, it inspired me to cue up my own (unremastered) copy and now having a nice time listening to it.
Jackie Mac has left behind a huge recording largess and I don't think I've yet heard one that wasn't good--and occasionally great. His alto embodied that was great about bop: adventurous, soulful and occasionally romantic; next to Sonny Stitt, he's my favorite Parker disciple.
4, 5, 6 is "just another" solid date for McLean, ably backed by a crack crew. And Van Gelder did his usual masterful job. You can't go wrong, here.
Hmm, Destination Out, with Grachan Moncur III. Damn, I gotta pull that one out, too.
3 - Big Geez
Appreciate the comments, guys.
4 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites.