Jackie McLean – Demon’s Dance – 180 Gram Tone Poet Vinyl Record

Description

Jackie McLean – Demon’s Dance – 180 Gram Tone Poet Vinyl Record

Demon’s Dance was Jackie McLean’s final Blue Note session of the 1960s, recorded in December 1967 with trumpeter Woody Shaw, pianist LaMont Johnson, bassist Scott Holt, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The album retains McLean’s hard-bop directness while embracing the more open harmonic language he had developed across the decade.

The title track begins with a dark, circling theme that gives McLean and Shaw room to phrase against the expected accents. Their contrasting horn sounds are central to the record: McLean’s alto is sharp and urgent, while Shaw’s trumpet brings a broader, harmonically adventurous line.

“Toyland” introduces an unusual combination of playful melody and unsettled harmony. “Boo Ann’s Grand” has a firmer rhythmic base, with DeJohnette responding to the soloists through crisp cymbal and snare commentary rather than fixed accompaniment.

On the second side, “Sweet Love of Mine” provides lyrical relief without abandoning the session’s modern edge. “Floogeh” turns more angular, and “Message from Trane” closes with an explicit acknowledgment of John Coltrane’s influence on the musicians’ search for new structures.

This Tone Poet edition presents the six-track album on 180-gram vinyl, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog tapes and housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket. It gives McLean’s Blue Note farewell the scale and clarity appropriate to its historical importance.

Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic

Record Details

Artist: Jackie McLean
Title: Demon’s Dance
Format: 180 Gram Tone Poet Vinyl Record
Label: Blue Note Records
Release year: 1967
UPC: 602438963348

Track Listing

A1. Demon’s Dance
A2. Toyland
A3. Boo Ann’s Grand
B1. Sweet Love of Mine
B2. Floogeh
B3. Message from Trane