Jackie McLean: Swing, Swang, Swingin' (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, 180g) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

Kevin Gray cut this Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series edition from the original master tapes, all-analog on 180g vinyl. It's alto man Jackie McLean's 1959 quartet session with Walter Bishop Jr., Jimmy Garrison and Art Taylor, which AllMusic's Steve Huey hears as the start of "an incredible hot streak."

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
• All-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes
• 180g vinyl

About the album

Jackie McLean is best known for his more modernist work, but Swing, Swang, Swingin' finds him in a sunnier mood. Recorded in 1959 with Walter Bishop Jr. on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Art Taylor on drums, it's a quartet date built mostly from standards: "What's New", "Let's Face The Music And Dance", Cole Porter's "I Love You", Benny Golson's "Stablemates", and McLean's own "116th And Lenox" to finish.

AllMusic's Steve Huey reckons Blue Note's more prepared approach to sessions left McLean sounding invigorated, "catapulting each melody forward," and that's the pleasure of it. Rudy Van Gelder engineered, Alfred Lion produced and Reid Miles designed the sleeve, so the usual suspects are all present and correct. If you only know McLean from the later, more searching records, this is the one where he's simply having a lovely time.

Tracklist

Listen

Out October 16, 2026 on Blue Note (cat# ST-84024), a reissue of the 1959 album.