Jackie McLean

Featuring: Freddie Hubbard

condition (record/cover): EX / VG+ (light wear)

No obi.

1961: Jackie McLean devotes an entire Blue Note session to the blues - six variations on the form, with Freddie Hubbard blazing alongside and the rhythm section digging trenches behind them. The premise sounds simple; the execution is anything but: McLean's acid tone and behind-the-beat urgency turn each blues into a different emotional weather system, from swaggering strut to raw lament, proving the form bottomless when the player is honest enough. Hubbard, twenty-two and fearless, pushes the leader hard, and McLean answers with some of the most concentrated playing of his hard bop years - that sharp, crying edge that made his alto instantly identifiable across a crowded room. This is the sound of the tradition at maximum pressure, right before McLean pushed into freer waters; you can already hear the door creaking open in the upper register.

One of the classic McLean Blue Notes, from one of the classic runs in the music. Stereo pressing, and the blues never sounded less routine.