1965 · Album
Jacknife
Recorded 1965 and 1966 · Blue Note Records · Released: 1975 (as Jacknife double LP)
A Decade in the Vault: Jackie McLean's Delayed Reckoning
Two sessions, ten years shelved, finally arriving as one complete statement of McLean's restless alto.
Jacknife arrived in 1975 as something unusual: a double album assembled from sessions recorded a full decade earlier, two separate dates that had been locked away while McLean moved through different chapters of his career. The 1965 tracks came first, then the 1966 material added to the vault, and both sat unused until Blue Note decided to release them together. By then McLean had evolved considerably, so these recordings exist slightly outside the timeline of his discography—you're hearing the player he was, not the one he'd become.
What's here is solid alto work, McLean doing what he does: sharp-toned, melodically direct, never content to just state a theme. He plays with real forward motion, and the supporting cast gives him room to work without clutter. The fact that the 1966 sessions have never had their own separate release is telling—they're not considered a standalone masterpiece, but they're certainly worth hearing, especially if you're tracking McLean's development across the mid-sixties. These aren't his peak years; that's somewhere between his early Blue Note work and his later, fiercer material. But they're honest sessions, the kind of mid-tier output that fills out an artist's picture without overselling itself.
For newer listeners, this isn't where to start with McLean. Begin with something sharper and more focused. But if you're already familiar with his core work and want to see what he was exploring during a stretch when he wasn't under the spotlight, Jacknife justifies the hunt. The limited CD reissue from 2002 and the Mosaic compilation are the paths in now; the original double LP is harder to track down. Neither version is essential, but both reveal an artist working steadily, without pretense.
Who's playing
Larry Ridleydouble bass
Don Mooredouble bass
Larry Willispiano
Jackie McLeanalto saxophone
Charles Tollivertrumpet
Lee Morgantrumpet
Jack DeJohnettedrums
Where next?
More by Jackie McLean
All 46 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
