Billboard : 11/24/1956
Score of 77

Altoist McLean is heard in three different frameworks. In the quartet he is assisted by Mal Waldron, piano; Doug Watkins, bass, and Art Taylor, drums. The quintet adds Don Byrd on trumpet, the sextet adds Hank Mobley on tenor. McLean, in the quartet, works over a few standards with great originality and finesse. A high point is the sextet version of the Charlie Parker classic, Confirmation.

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Down Beat : 12/12/1956
Nat Hentoff : 4 stars

Tracks by a quartet, quintet, and sextet featuring McLean and consisting of his alto, plus Doug Watkins, bass; Mal Waldron, piano; Arthur Taylor, drums, for the quartet; Donald Byrd, trumpet, for the quintet, and Hank Mobley, tenor, for the sextet.

There have been times in recent months when it seemed that none of the young New York musicians (the geographical term is used not to mean point of origin but point of operations) was able to to play with grace, beauty, and delicacy. However, on Abstraction, Waldron’s original, this is all proved untrue. It is a slow, lyrical number in which McLean blows reflectively, Byrd solos in a mute most thoughtfully, and Waldron contributes a lovely piano solo with changing color and shifting moods. Waldon also solos excitingly on When I Fall in Love.

On the opening track, Sentimental, as well as in other spots, McLean is in full command of his musical gifts and plays with ease, sureness, and fire. Byrd does not sustain his solo on Confirmation, but on this track there are some good splits between McLean and Mobley.

The rhythm section seems flawless throughout and never rushes or interferes.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Jackie McLean is musically coming of age. His playing, out of Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins, has become a personalized, more individual voice in 1956 and he has not lost any of the basic-emotion, swinging qualities which help his style live up to the second syllable of his last name so well.

Here the vitality of the McLean alto is heard in three different size groups.

The rhythm section remains the same for all the combinations and is made up of Mal Waldron, one of the promising pianist-composers in the East, who has been Jackie’s teammate in the Charlie Mingus group at various times during 1956; Doug Watkins, the Detroit bass product who made his mark with the Jazz Messengers and more recently Horace Silver‘s new group; Art Taylor, the mustachioed swinger heard previously with Art Farmer–Gigi Gryce, Bud Powell, etc. and who has been splitting the duties as Prestige’s house drummer with Philly Joe Jones.

The quartet finds Jackie in the standards department interpreting Sentimental Journey, Why Was I Born? and When I Fall In Love. Mal Waldron contributes solos on all three and Doug Watkins travels a solo road on the Journey.

The scene shifts to the originals section as another Detroit gift to the Eastern jazz locale, Donald Byrd, makes the group a quintet. Donald, after a short stint with the Messengers, has recently been featured with the Max Roach group. He and Jackie teamed up before in Lights Out (Prestige LP 7035). Both originals in this segment of the session are by pianists. The somber beauty of Abstraction was created by Mal Waldron and the pulsating Contour was molded by Kenny Drew.

Originals only continue as Hank Mobley, another ex-Messenger who has been promoted to vice-president in the new Horace Silver group, swells the group to sextet size. The original is Charlie Parker’s classic, Confirmation.

Thus – 4, 5 and 6 henceforth – get your kicks.