Profile of Jackie

Jackie McLean (alto sax), J. R. Monterose (tenor saxophone), Mal Waldron (piano), Charles Mingus (bass) and Willie Jones (drums). From the album Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956).

After Billie Holiday died, Mal Waldron joined singer Abbey Lincoln and her husband, drummer Max Roach, as well as playing with the Eric Dolphy and Booker Little quintet before the latter died at 23 years of age. In 1963 he injected an overdose of heroin and it took him three years to recover completely.

Then he frequented Europe a lot until he settled in Munich in 1967. His decision to move to Europe was due to ruthless competition for work in the United States and the fact that black musicians were paid less than white musicians. He made the soundtrack for the movie Sweet Love, Bitter and composed for theater, television and short films. He also met with other expatriates, such as Kenny Clarke and Ben Webster.

After a short introduction by Waldron, McClean exposes the theme with Monterose making a sound mattress underneath and then develops his solo, always accompanied by Monterose, whose melody tells you a melancholic and personal story, while Mingus plays in an unconventional way until McClean ends his speech.