Makin' the Changes

Jackie McLean’s alto saxophone cuts through hard bop’s dense arrangements on Makin' the Changes, a New Jazz Records release that finds the Connecticut native navigating modal changes with restless urgency. Recorded during the label’s golden era of disciplined modernism, McLean’s tone—sharp and slightly abrasive—dominates sessions built on the interplay between his horn and the rhythm section’s conversational swing. The album captures McLean at a crucial inflection point, balancing bebop vocabulary with the harmonic exploration that would define his later work.