1961 · Album
A Long Drink of the Blues
Recorded 1957 · New Jazz Records (NJ 8253) · Produced by Not specified in verified sources
Four Years in the Vault, Still Fresh
McLean's bridge work here shows a player deepening his command, varying his approach to keep listeners genuinely uncertain where he'll go next.
By 1957, when these sessions were recorded, Jackie McLean was already a working saxophonist with real experience behind him, but A Long Drink of the Blues arrived four years later as something between a document and a delayed introduction. It wasn't a debut—he'd recorded before—but the gap between capture and release gave it an odd quality: music that sounded immediate in 1961 but belonged to an earlier moment in his thinking. This wasn't a turning point or a peak. It was solid work from a player still finding his voice, not yet the fiery modernist he would become.
The album splits itself between two groups. The sextet tracks with Webster Young, Curtis Fuller, Paul Chambers, and Louis Hayes have a conventional hard-bop feel, the kind of date that could fill an afternoon at Rudy Van Gelder's studio. The quartet sides with Mal Waldron, Art Phipps, and Art Taylor breathe differently—tighter, more conversational. The DownBeat reviewer singled out "These Foolish Things" for McLean's varied bridge work across two solo choruses, noting how he shifted his emotional temperature to keep the listener off balance. That kind of detail matters more than broad praise. It's the observation of someone actually listening to what McLean chose to do.
AllMusic gave the album four stars, which feels right—it's a strong session without being essential. For anyone tracking McLean's arc, this is worth hearing, but it's not the place to start. The album sits comfortably in his discography, a snapshot of a saxophonist with good instincts and growing control, caught between what he was learning and what he would become.
Who's playing
Paul Chambersbass
Arthur Phippsbass
Gil Cogginspiano
Mal Waldronpiano
Jackie McLeantenor saxophone
Webster Youngtrumpet
Curtis Fullertrombone
Louis Hayesdrums
Art Taylordrums
Where next?
More by Jackie McLean
All 46 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
