Billboard : 06/23/1956
Score of 80

Interest is evenly divided here between the truly outstanding work of McLean on alto and of Donald Byrd on trumpet. Both have been coming to the foreground – and this set is their most favorable showcase to date. Individually outstanding as they are, it is even more impressive to hear them blow together, with a hand-in-glove rapport. The program has unusual range; a slow, downhome blues (Lights Out) and plenty of fast pyrotechnical outbursts. A gassy set like this ought to be a great seller to modernists.

—–

Cashbox : 06/16/1956

The Jackie McLean Quintet displays various tempo approaches with considerable ingenuity on this Prestige release. Listeners will be intrigued on hearing McLean’s alto sax and Donald Byrd‘s trumpet matching jazz wits throughout the disk. Elmo Hope‘s keyboard is cleverly noticeable even under the sharp work of McLean and Byrd. Competent jazz platter that should find a wide market.

—–

San Francisco Examiner
C.H. Garrigues : 10/07/1956

McLean on alto is joined by Donald Byrd, Elmo Hope, Doug Watkins and Arthur Taylor in a session of more-or-less run-of-the-mill blowing. Definitely a “could use,” if only for the very find ending of A Foggy Day.

—–

Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

To some people Lights Out might bring to mind the series of radio chillers penned by Arch Oboler some years back. Perhaps these are the same people who went to sleep with the lights on when they were children. As the title of this LP and the name of a specific selection, Lights Out signifies relaxation rather than terror.

The recording bugaboo has been written about before and although the jazz musician’s second home seems to be in the recording studio these days, tensions still exist for the self critical jazz artist when he is confronted with microphone, tape machine and clock.

I don’t doubt that the lights out method has been used before. I can recall two other specific instances where it was employed to good advantage. Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh recorded Fishin’ Around without the fluorescents (Prestige LP 7004) and Miles Davis‘ Blue Haze (Prestige LP 161) flowed through only the light coming from the control room. Both times the absence of light helped to relax the musicians and fit in with the mood of the piece. The dark can be very relaxing. You know how more perceptive your hearing becomes when your eyes are not forced to work. I’m sure that is why many musicians close their eyes while soloing.

In this session, Bob Weinstock remembered the example of Blue Haze and felt that the slow blues would be well served by a dim studio. It’s more for the mood of the piece than to relax these effervescent musicians. That is how the title came about. The photograph taken at the time it was being taped proved to be an expressive reason for duplicating the title for the entire LP, although the remaining five numbers were done “lights on”. While there is illumination let me shed some light on the featured performers.

John Lenwood McLean (often erroneously spelled McClean) is know better as simply Jackie. A native New Yorker (born May 17, 1932), Jackie was left a musical heritage by his father, John Sr., who played guitar with Tiny Bradshaw. He died in 1939. The incentive to further the heritage was given him by his mother when she bought him his first saxophone. Jackie grew up in Harlem with bop already flowering around him. He played in a neighborhood band that included Sonny Rollins and Andy Kirk Jr. on saxophones and Kenny Drew on piano. After school hours he would jam and study with Bud Powell and although he names Charlie Parker, Rollins and Kirk as his favorite saxophonists, Jackie states that “Bud Powell is my inspiration”. In those afternoon sessions Bud taught him chord changes and imparted the important lesson of “time.” It was in 1951 that Jackie made his first recordings. These can be heard on Miles Davis’ Dig (Prestige LP 7012).

Actually it wasn’t until 1955 that Jackie started playing jobs that brought his name before the public. With Paul Bley‘s quartet and George Wallington‘s quintet he started to fulfill the promise he had shown when Bud Powell unveiled him one night at Birdland some five years before. 1956 finds him with Charlie Mingus‘ quintet as another phase of his career opens.

Donald Byrd is one of the young stalwarts from Detroit who have made their mark in the past year. He was studying at the Manhattan School of Music and jamming around New York when George Wallington hired him for his quintet in the summer of 1955. This is where he and Jackie played together at length for the first time. Later Donald was with another edition of the Wallington quintet (Prestige LP 7032) and in early 1956 replaced Kenny Dorham in the Jazz Messengers. His style is in the Dorham vein but his sonority is more akin to Fats Navarro‘s.

Jocularity was in order in keeping with Jackie’s and Donald’s youthful personalities which blended musically and socially. Added to this combination was the exuberance of Donald’s Detroit running mate from the Messengers, Doug Watkins, the whimsical self of Elmo Hope and the sarcastic, but not malicious, jibes of Arthur Taylor. This was the varied humorous climate in which the session took place.

It is definitely what can be classified as a “blowing session”. There are no written lines except for the ending of Inding.

Lights Out, the slow blues, starts with bass which is joined by drums four bars later and piano in the last four of the first chorus. From the beginning of the second chorus it’s all solo with a short one by Elmo, then Jackie followed by muted Donald. After a longer Hope stint, Jackie and Donald take over for two choruses of two bar exchanges before Jackie takes it out.

The medium blues, Kerplunk, a more modern treatment than Lights Out, begins with Elmo, followed by Donald and Jackie Then Donald and Jackie take one chorus apiece for five rounds before going into “The Peck” and out.

Inding and Up are based on the “I Got Rhythm” type chord changes but in different keys. The former starts with the rhythm section romping and Donald, Elmo and Jackie solo in that order. Up begins and ends with a sort of call sounded by the horns. It’s tempo is described by its title. Donald, Jackie, Elmo and Art Taylor appear in that order solowise.

A Foggy Day has an intro by the horns and then Jackie comes out of his corner “wailing”. Donald’s solo is muted and he’s followed by Elmo before Jackie comes in again. Everyone makes use of suspended rhythmic and harmonic interludes during their solos and the horns end it in this manner as they fade out over London town.

Lorraine is the ballad and while she may not be sweet, she certainly is embraceable. Donald’s solos sandwich Jackie’s.