[Dixielandjazz] Jackie McLean passes away.

[Steve barbone]

Jazz Saxophonist Jackie McLean passed away last Friday in Hartford
Connecticut. He was 73.

Perhaps not OKOM for most on the list, he was my friend in the 1950s and an
marvelous jazz musician. He was real.

He was most recently the artistic director of the Jackie McLean Institute of
Jazz at the University of Hartford. Prior to that he had played with host of
jazz legends including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker. His
anecdotes about his relationship Bird were priceless.

He was born in Harlem, a year and a half before me, and as a teenager
studied with Sonny Rollins, under legendary jazz pianist Bud Powell. He
recorded with Miles at age 19. Followed by numerous recording dates on his
own, and with others including Charles Mingus and Art Blakey who helped him
find his own voice from under Bird's shadow.

After conquering the demons of heroin addiction and alcohol he lectured on
drug addiction research and went on to teach Jazz, African American Music,
and African American History and Culture at the University of Hartford. He
received an American Jazz Masters fellowship from the National Endowment for
the Arts in 2001 and toured the world as an educator and performer.

Jackie McLean, a great player and a great inspiration, rest in peace.

Steve Barbone