JACKIE McLEAN was born in New York City. When he was 12 years old the family moved to the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, a thriving cultural neighborhood where many of the era's foremost writers, artists, actors and musicians lived. The young McLean saw and admired many of them.

His godfather, Norman Cobbs, a saxophonist who played in the band in Adam Clayton Powell's Abyssiania Baptist Church gave Jackie his first instrument, a soprano saxophone, when he was 14 years old. A year later, he received an alto saxophone from his mother and stepfather. Working in his stepfather's record store, Jackie listened to records of Lester Young and Dexter Gordon. He developed a preference for the harder tenor sound that influenced McLean's unique tone and sound which is world renowned and quite distinct among alto saxophonists.

Within a year Jackie was studying with the pianist Bud Powell and began a very rapid musical development. Thelonious Monk invited McLean to sit in, though the young musician felt that he was not yet ready. It was Charlie Parker, however, who was to have the most profound impact on McLean as a musician, not only verbally encouraging his playing, but even sometimes using the younger musician as a substitute on jobs that Parker himself was unable to fulfill.

By the time he was nineteen years old, though only playing for four years, McLean was already making a name for himself. He had already made his recording debut with Miles Davis, and was well on his way to working out an original musical extension of the Parker influence. A period with Charles Mingus, followed by a three year stint with the drummer, Art Blakey, saw McLean develop as one of the true masters of his instrument. During this time he also began to record under his own name.

In 1959 McLean added acting to his artistic skills, becoming a member of the avant-garde UvingTheater. He was cast in Jack Gelber's "The Connection", performing in both this country and in Europe. He also appeared in the play's film version.

During the 1960's McLean was one of the few established "Bebop" players to embrace new developments in music. He introduced many adventurous young stylists to the Jazz scene, including Charles Tolliver, Tony Williams, Jack Dejonette, Larry Willis and Rene McLean. It was also at this time that he started a Sunday afternoon series in an East Village saloon that eventually became one of the world's most celebrated Jazz clubs -Slug's Saloon.

Since 1971, Jackie McLean has lived in Hartford and added impressive accomplishments to his life's history. Teaching at the Hartt College of the University of Hartford, he developed the jazz degree program and is chairman of the African American Music Department. His course on the history of Jazz places the music in its historical, social and economic context. He also teaches saxophone and improvisation. As a community activist, he, along with his wife, Dollie, spearheaded the establishment of the Artists Collective, a non-profit multi-arts cultural center. Now in its second decade, the Collective offers training to youth and adults in many art forms, with emphasis on the contributions of African Americans to this nation's arts and culture. A new five million dollar facility for the Artists Collective is in the offing.

Among numerous awards and accolades, Jackie McLean was invited in 1989 to perform in Paris on the occasion of the commemoration of the bicentennial of the French Revolution under the patronage of Danielle Mitterand, wife of the President of France. There he received a medal as Officier de L'Ordre des Arts des Lettres from the Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. McLean was honored by New York City's Uncoln Center's Classical Jazz Series with a special evening in concert, "The Music of Jackie McLean" which garnered rave reviews. Jackie McLean continues to perform world wide with his own group and with other major Jazz musicians. His most recent recording Nature Boy, is on Blue Note Records.

Noted educator, community activist, celebrated musician, Jackie McLean is proclaimed by peers, critics and audiences as the world premier alto saxophonist of our time.