Jackie McLean

★★★★ It’s Time BLUE NOTE. LP

20th century jazz – still sounds modern in the 21st.

One of the post-Bird hard bop greats, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean’s seams-bursting attack demanded attention. He expanded on Charlie Parker’s complex freneticism to include other elements. In this remastered Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of the 1964 date, he’s joined by top peers: pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Roy Haynes and, crucially, trumpeter Charles Tolliver in his first recording. (McLean is titular leader but splits compositional credits and spotlight with Tolliver.) Opening track Cancellation sets the template: beginning with an over-the-speed-limit head, McLean and Tolliver plunge into modal exploration with temporal fluctuations aided by Hancock elegantly travelling the keys with neoclassical flourishes. Eventually, the rhythm section joins them in melting the clock before returning with precise dispatch to the head. The rest of the album is similarly thrilling and experimental for its time – or any time.