Jackie’s Bag

NPR profiles Jackie McLean:

When McLean was 15, his mother bought him an alto saxophone, but it didn’t sound like Lester Young. It wasn’t until he heard Charlie Parker playing the alto that he fell in love with its sound. McLean recalled the first time he heard “Bird” play. “For the first time in the history of my life, I heard the alto saxophone and loved it,” McLean said. “I loved the way it sounded, the quality. I liked the ideas.”

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