J. Mack Is Back!

Actually, Jackie McLean—the alto saxophonist who provided a link between Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman— never really went away. But much of his work after joining the faculty of the University of Hartford, in 1968, sounded tentative compared with his Prestige and Blue Note albums of the fifties and early-to-midsixties. McLean regained his form, however, on last year’s Dynasty (Triloka), a concert recording featuring him with a tight quintet including his son René on tenor and soprano saxophones. The new Rites of Passage, a studio session with the same band, is a worthy follow-up, despite its derivative original material by Rene and the pianist Hotep Idris Galeta. Heard to best advantage on his own “My Lady (Portrait of Doll)”—a restless ballad with a surprising, quick-stepping bridge—McLean shows that his greatest asset as a soloist remains his sound: strident and at least a quarternote sharp, but emotionally right on the money and unmistakably his. —F.D.