1960 · Album
Makin' the Changes
Recorded 1957 · Prestige (New Jazz subsidiary) · Produced by Unknown
A Saxophonist Working Out New Ideas
McLean recorded these tracks three years before anyone heard them, shifting between intimate quartet and fuller ensemble sound.
Here's something you don't often think about: Jackie McLean cut Makin' the Changes in 1957, but the world didn't hear it until 1960, when it showed up on the New Jazz subsidiary label. That gap matters because by the time listeners finally got to this album, McLean was already moving forward. What you're hearing is a snapshot of a musician in the middle of figuring something out.
The album splits itself pretty cleanly. Three tracks find McLean in a tighter setting with Mal Waldron on piano, Arthur Phipps on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. These are working sessions—the kind where you can hear everybody clearly and there's nowhere to hide. The other three expand to a sextet with Webster Young on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Gil Coggins on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. Fuller's trombone gives these tracks a different weight, and the two-piano rotation (Waldron and Coggins) keeps things from getting too thick. McLean's saxophone cuts through all of it—he's direct, always melodic, never prettified.
If you're new to McLean, this isn't the first stop. His work for Atlantic Records in the early 1960s is more fully realized, and some of his later albums hit harder. But if you already know his music, Makin' the Changes shows you something useful: a saxophonist working in real time, trying different combinations, not yet the fully formed voice he'd become. It's less polished than his best work, more rough around the edges, which is partly why it's worth hearing. You get McLean thinking out loud.
Who's playing
Arthur Phippsdouble bass
Paul Chambersdouble bass
Mal Waldronpiano
Gil Cogginspiano
Jackie McLeanalto saxophone
Webster Youngtrumpet
Curtis Fullertrombone
Art Taylordrums
Louis Hayesdrums
Where next?
More by Jackie McLean
All 46 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
