A recent story on NPR covered Jackie McLean’s influence on the Hartford jazz scene, and how he turned Hartford into a spotlight for jazz. Arguably, this evolution is due to his role at The Hartt School and the University of Hartford.
The Hartt School’s jazz studies program, now known as the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, was founded by McLean. Now one of the nation’s premier jazz programs, Hartt's Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz develops aspiring and skilled jazz musicians, and both its faculty and alumni include notable top talents in the industry.
Jackie McLean was a Harlem-born and raised musician who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. As a saxophonist, he played and recorded albums with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. McLean performed on a prolific run of albums on the Blue Note Records label. Shortly after the end of this contract, in 1968, he began teaching at The Hartt School, and later set up the jazz studies program, now known as the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz. In 1970, along with his wife, Dollie McLean, along with jazz bassist Paul (PB) Brown, founded the Artists Collective, Inc. Membership of McLean’s later bands were drawn from his students at Hartt.
Beyond The Hartt School, the greater Hartford area also stands out, as NPR states, as “One of the hippest creative communities.” Hartford features the longest-running free jazz concert series, has produced countless musicians who are recording and touring all over the world, and has become a destination for jazz education through community arts organizations. Hartford’s successful and thriving jazz scene is credited to McLean.
McLean’s impact at Hartt and the transformation of Hartford as a destination for jazz was also a prolific one. When McLean came to Hartt in the late 1960s, jazz was not widely incorporated in higher education. McLean helped Hartt’s aspiring musicians learn from one of the masters, and with the founding of the Artist’s Collective, he provided an educational launchpad for students to aid in their musical careers. To this day, the legacy of McLean lives on, through the impact to Hartt, the city of Hartford, and beyond.