New Soil

Analogue Productions' Blue Note and Nat "King" Cole Reissues WIN A Positive Feedback 2010 Brutus Award! 

"...if you haven't picked up every one of the Blue Note and Nat King Cole reissues from Chad Kassem and company at Acoustic Sounds, you're really missing out!" - David W. Robinson, Positive Feedback, Issue 52 

New Soil wasn't the first session Jackie McLean recorded for Blue Note, but it was the first one released, and as the title suggests, the first glimpses of McLean's desire to push beyond the limits of bop are already apparent. They're subtle, of course, and nowhere near as pronounced, as they would be in just a few years' time, but – as with the 1959 material later issued on Jackie's Bag – hints of Ornette Coleman's stream-of-consciousness melodic freedom are beginning to find their way into McLean's improvisations. His playing is just a touch more angular than the ear expects, especially given the very bluesy nature of pieces like McLean's 11-minute vamp, "Hip Strut," and pianist Walter Davis Jr.'s infectious boogie-woogie "Greasy." Coleman's influence is most apparent on McLean's "Minor Apprehension," where the freewheeling, Coleman-esque main theme is paralleled by trumpeter Donald Byrd in a definite nod to Don Cherry.

Jackie McLean, alto sax

Donald Byrd, trumpet

Paul Chambers, bass

Walter Davis Jr., piano

Pete LaRoca, drums

Acoustic Sounds