{"id":335461,"date":"2026-10-18T07:06:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/music\/jackie-mclean-vertigo-tone-poet-review\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T07:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:06:45","slug":"jackie-mclean-vertigo-tone-poet-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/music\/jackie-mclean-vertigo-tone-poet-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackie McLean Vertigo Tone Poet Review: Hard Bop at the Edge of Something New"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jackie McLean was never the easiest alto saxophonist to mistake for someone else. His tone could be tart, urgent, occasionally abrasive, and almost always emotionally direct; where other players polished the edges, McLean often seemed more interested in seeing what happened if he leaned into them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That made him one of the most distinctive alto voices to emerge from the hard-bop era and, eventually, one of the musicians who helped Blue Note push beyond it. The new Tone Poet edition of&nbsp;<em>Vertigo<\/em>&nbsp;revisits one of the more fascinating entries in McLean\u2019s catalog, a record that sits squarely between the blues-driven language of his earlier work and the more angular, exploratory direction he would pursue during the 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Produced by Joe Harley, mastered from the original analog tapes by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/podcasts\/kevin-gray-buckingham-nicks\/\">Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio<\/a>, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, the 2026 Tone Poet edition receives the usual deluxe treatment, including a Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket with Francis Wolff photography. The bigger question, however, is whether <em>Vertigo<\/em>\u00a0itself deserves the attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-related-reading\">Related Reading:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/music\/woody-shaw-song-of-songs-vinyl-review\/\">Woody Shaw&nbsp;Song Of Songs&nbsp;Vinyl Review: This Is Not Late Night Jazz<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/music\/john-coltrane-ascension-verve-vault-2lp\/\">John Coltrane\u2019s Ascension Review: Both 1966 Versions Come Together On Verve\u2019s Superb 2LP Vault Edition<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/podcasts\/blue-note-records-album-art\/\">Podcast: A Deep Dive Into Blue Note Records\u2019 Album Art<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-jackie-mclean-was-already-looking-beyond-hard-bop\">Jackie McLean Was Already Looking Beyond Hard Bop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in New York City in 1931, John Lenwood \u201cJackie\u201d McLean came up around musicians who were helping reshape modern jazz in real time. Bud Powell was an early mentor, and McLean was still young when he began working with Miles Davis; later came important associations with Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, and others before McLean established himself as a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His long relationship with Blue Note became especially important because it documented his evolution in unusually clear fashion. Albums such as&nbsp;<em>Bluesnik<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>A Fickle Sonance<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>Let Freedom Ring<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>One Step Beyond<\/em>, and&nbsp;<em>Destination\u2026 Out!<\/em>&nbsp;show a player gradually moving beyond conventional hard bop without discarding the blues, swing, or rhythmic drive that gave his music its backbone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McLean did not suddenly wake up one morning and decide that harmony was optional. He stretched the language piece by piece until the seams started showing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Vertigo<\/em>&nbsp;captures that process in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"777\"  itemprop=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/jackie-mclean-vertigo-blue-note-vinyl-open.jpg\" alt=\"jackie-mclean-vertigo-blue-note-vinyl-open\" class=\"wp-image-336200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/jackie-mclean-vertigo-blue-note-vinyl-open.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/jackie-mclean-vertigo-blue-note-vinyl-open-768x663.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-two-sessions-and-one-serious-band\">Two Sessions and One Serious Band<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The album draws from two Rudy Van Gelder sessions recorded in 1962 and 1963, and the personnel explains a great deal about why the music feels so alive. McLean is joined by Donald Byrd on trumpet, Herbie Hancock on piano, Butch Warren and Paul Chambers on bass, and Tony Williams and Billy Higgins on drums, depending on the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is not exactly the supporting cast from a regional dinner-theater production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hancock was rapidly emerging as one of the defining pianists of his generation, while the teenage Tony Williams was already demonstrating the rhythmic imagination that would soon make him essential to Miles Davis\u2019 Second Great Quintet. Byrd brought both precision and lyricism, while Chambers, Warren, Higgins, and Williams gave McLean a rhythm section capable of moving comfortably between hard bop and something considerably less settled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That flexibility is central to&nbsp;<em>Vertigo<\/em>. The compositions still swing and still retain the structural logic of hard bop, but the harmonic tension is greater, the phrasing less predictable, and the ensemble sounds increasingly comfortable leaving familiar ground behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody has thrown the rulebook out yet, but it has definitely been moved closer to the edge of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-nbsp-vertigo-nbsp-matters\">Why&nbsp;<em>Vertigo<\/em>&nbsp;Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For listeners new to Jackie McLean, I would not necessarily start here.&nbsp;<em>Bluesnik<\/em>&nbsp;is a more straightforward introduction to his hard-bop side, while&nbsp;<em>Let Freedom Ring<\/em>&nbsp;makes the transition toward his more exploratory work easier to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Vertigo<\/em>&nbsp;is compelling because it lives between those two worlds. McLean still plays with the rhythmic urgency and directness that defined his earlier recordings, but the writing and ensemble interaction point toward the more adventurous Blue Note sessions that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That makes the record more than a curiosity from the vaults. It is a snapshot of one of jazz\u2019s most distinctive alto players in the middle of changing his language, surrounded by musicians who were doing exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-consider-this-edition\">Why Consider This Edition?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The choice to include&nbsp;<em>Vertigo<\/em>&nbsp;in the Tone Poet series also makes sense because the album has never enjoyed the same visibility as McLean\u2019s better-known Blue Note titles. For collectors who want the music on vinyl without chasing older pressings of uncertain condition and provenance, this edition offers a considerably simpler route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I paid&nbsp;<strong>$45 CAD plus 13% HST<\/strong>&nbsp;for my copy at Rotate This on Ossington Avenue in Toronto two weeks ago. With the Canadian dollar sitting around $1.42 to the U.S. dollar, that worked out favorably enough that I never felt like I was paying an audiophile penalty for the privilege. After listening to it, I would happily pay it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The presentation is bold, full, and wonderfully physical. The horns are front and center without becoming aggressive, and there is not an ounce of thinness anywhere in the recording. Hancock\u2019s piano has weight and texture, the bass is substantial and easy to follow, and the drums have real power without crowding the rest of the ensemble. The cymbals have excellent air and decay, giving the upper register plenty of openness without introducing glare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McLean is absolutely on fire here. His alto has body, bite, and urgency, but the overall presentation remains remarkably composed\u2014far more so than the Woody Shaw <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/music\/woody-shaw-song-of-songs-vinyl-review\/\">Song of Songs<\/a><\/em>\u00a0reissue I reviewed recently, which is more restless and volatile by design.\u00a0<em>Vertigo<\/em>\u00a0still has plenty of energy, but everything feels locked into place rather than fighting for space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pressing itself was essentially flawless: clean, centered, and quiet from beginning to end. More importantly, the sound quality serves the music rather than turning the session into an audiophile demonstration record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Worth every cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-our-ratings-0\">Our Ratings<\/h3>\n\n\n<p><span class=\"score\">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;<span style=\"width:90%\">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;<\/span><\/span> Music<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span class=\"score\">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;<span style=\"width:100%\">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;<\/span><\/span> Sound<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span class=\"score\">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;<span style=\"width:100%\">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;<\/span><\/span> Pressing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-where-to-buy\">Where to Buy:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-corebuttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4sjnMsI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\">$38.98 at Amazon<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-corebuttons-is-layout-2 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/store.bluenote.com\/collections\/tone-poet-series\/products\/jackie-mclean-vertigo-tone-poet-vinyl-series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\">$38.98 at Blue Note<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-related-reading-0\">Related Reading:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/music\/john-coltrane-africa-brass-vinyl-reissue\/\">John Coltrane\u2019s \u2018Africa\/Brass\u2019 180-Gram Vinyl Reissue Review: A Verve Acoustic Sounds Standout<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/reviews\/miles-davis-cookin\/\">Cookin\u2019 With The Miles Davis Quintet Review: This OJC Reissue Gets The Heat Right<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/reviews\/coltrane-ojc-vinyl\/\">John Coltrane&nbsp;OJC Vinyl Review: Craft\u2019s Reissue Captures A Force Of Nature<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jackie McLean\u2019s Vertigo captures the alto saxophonist stretching hard bop toward something more adventurous, now reissued in Blue Note\u2019s Tone Poet series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":336199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[25655,37439,7566,21477,14452,6162,37437,22702,27130,21879,7702,36616,37440,37438,36035],"class_list":{"0":"post-335461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-audiophile-vinyl-2","9":"tag-blue-note-2","10":"tag-blue-note-tone-poet","11":"tag-donald-byrd","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-herbie-hancock","14":"tag-jackie-mclean","15":"tag-jazz-2","16":"tag-jazz-vinyl","17":"tag-joe-harley","18":"tag-kevin-gray","19":"tag-tone-poet","20":"tag-tony-williams","21":"tag-vertigo","22":"tag-vinyl-reissues-3"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.4 (Yoast SEO v24.4) - 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White has been covering consumer audio, home theater, and A\/V since 1998, which means he has spent nearly three decades watching perfectly sensible products slowly evolve into more expensive versions of themselves with extra steps. His work has appeared in eCoustics, The New York Times, Gear Patrol, Digital Trends, JAZZIZ, Big Picture Big Sound, SoundStage, Enjoy the Music, and The Jerusalem Post, covering everything from high-end audio, home theater, movies, music, food, and the connected city. He\u2019s a certified ISF calibrator, a former Lead Copywriter, and a veteran of the quieter corners of threat engineering and cybersecurity, where nothing works without approval and someone is always asking about the TPS report. Academically, he holds a degree in Near Eastern Affairs with minors in Judaic Studies and Forensic Science. His worldview is shaped by history rather than theory: grandson of Holocaust survivors, descendant of Irgun founders, and named after an IDF tank commander killed during the Yom Kippur War. Born in Toronto, his upbringing ricocheted between Washington D.C., Chicago, Rockville, Northern Israel, Arkham Asylum, and a few other formative environments best discussed off the record, before settling in New Jersey, and South Florida\u2014because chaos, like mold, thrives in humidity and traffic. He was conceived at a drive-in movie (yes, really) and has since watched more than 5,733 films across eight countries, though he will still go to his grave insisting he waited only seven days, not eight, to see The Phantom Menace. When he\u2019s not writing, Ian collects vintage film posters, books, and an unreasonable amount of Star Wars, Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals memorabilia. He\u2019s a professional-grade foodie and former pizza maker whose loyalties lie with dim sum, biltong, curry, pizza, deli sandwiches, pho, and Korean BBQ. 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White has been covering consumer audio, home theater, and A\/V since 1998, which means he has spent nearly three decades watching perfectly sensible products slowly evolve into more expensive versions of themselves with extra steps. His work has appeared in eCoustics, The New York Times, Gear Patrol, Digital Trends, JAZZIZ, Big Picture Big Sound, SoundStage, Enjoy the Music, and The Jerusalem Post, covering everything from high-end audio, home theater, movies, music, food, and the connected city. He\u2019s a certified ISF calibrator, a former Lead Copywriter, and a veteran of the quieter corners of threat engineering and cybersecurity, where nothing works without approval and someone is always asking about the TPS report. Academically, he holds a degree in Near Eastern Affairs with minors in Judaic Studies and Forensic Science. His worldview is shaped by history rather than theory: grandson of Holocaust survivors, descendant of Irgun founders, and named after an IDF tank commander killed during the Yom Kippur War. Born in Toronto, his upbringing ricocheted between Washington D.C., Chicago, Rockville, Northern Israel, Arkham Asylum, and a few other formative environments best discussed off the record, before settling in New Jersey, and South Florida\u2014because chaos, like mold, thrives in humidity and traffic. He was conceived at a drive-in movie (yes, really) and has since watched more than 5,733 films across eight countries, though he will still go to his grave insisting he waited only seven days, not eight, to see The Phantom Menace. When he\u2019s not writing, Ian collects vintage film posters, books, and an unreasonable amount of Star Wars, Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals memorabilia. He\u2019s a professional-grade foodie and former pizza maker whose loyalties lie with dim sum, biltong, curry, pizza, deli sandwiches, pho, and Korean BBQ. Weekends involve parenting, Shul, record digging, scribbling notes in his Hemingway-inspired shawl cardigan, rewatching movies he\u2019s already memorized, firing slapshots at the garage door like it\u2019s Game 7, and casting into the Atlantic Gulf Stream in search of dinner, clarity, and whatever\u2019s left of his moral compass.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/soundscreenandcuredjudgment\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ian-d-white-969a48160\/"],"knowsAbout":["Fishing","cooking","writing","cleaning pots"],"knowsLanguage":["English","French","Hebrew"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/author\/ian-white\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335461"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336204,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335461\/revisions\/336204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}