jackie mclean

so long to alto saxophonist jackie mclean, who left the planet last friday. what a life this man had: played with the cream of the bebop aristocracy as a harlem teenager in the '40s; made his mark as a sideman to miles davis, charles mingus, and art blakey in the '50s and as a free-thinking leader on blue note in the '60s; starred in the play the connection (about drug-addicted musos) after shaking his own jones; went on to a distinguished career as an educator who worked with inner city youth. not a bad way to spend 74 yrs.