McLean Out to Show He’s in a Class by Himself : Jazz: The veteran player takes a break from teaching to hit the scene again. He’s in at Catalina Bar & Grill.

Jackie McLean likes to talk about his “kids” almost as much as he likes to make music. The jazz alto saxophonist--one of the hot-blooded revolutionaries of the post-Charlie Parker generation--has been a significant force in the jazz-education world for more than two decades. Under his direction, the African American Music Department at the University of Hartford’s Hartt College of Music has become one of the most highly regarded programs for young jazz players in the country.

“I’m thankful that a lot of the kids who’ve come out of my program are doing well,” he said in a conversation last week. “The Harper Brothers came through; Anton Roney is working around New York; Steve Davis, a trombone player, is working with Art Blakey. And a lot of the others, with lesser-known names, are working as musicians all over the place--on cruise ships, in local clubs, and so forth.”

McLean’s own playing, on the back burner since the early ‘70s, is in the process of being fully revived, and he’s adamant that his scholarly credentials have in no way diminished his powers as a world-class jazz man.

“I’m back out on the scene, playing again and very serious about it,” he said. “I’m still striving to be who I started out to be.” McLean closes out a six-night engagement at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood on Sunday.

The 58-year-old McLean started being who he is--musically, at least--at a very early age. His first recording, made before he was 20, was with Miles Davis. Gigs with Charles Mingus and Blakey followed. By the time the ‘60s rolled around, McLean had appeared as an actor in Jack Gelber’s classic jazz play “The Connection” and produced a series of superb, post-bebop recordings on Blue Note.

When the jazz flame flickered to a near-ember in the late ‘60s with the death of John Coltrane, McLean was commuting back and forth between Hartford and New York City, balancing his time between the classroom and the bandstand. It didn’t take long for him to find the attractions of academia more appealing than the uncertain life of the jazz clubs.

“It was a very strange time,” he recalled. “There was a big nine- or 10-year funk that jazz went into, and it happened right after Coltrane passed away. The jazz clubs began to dry up, the discos came in and it was the beginning of a kind of mass hypnotic trance that popular music went into with that constant ‘boom, boom, boom’ beat repeating over and over again--with all the lights and stuff.

“It was a time when I was very happy to be getting into a full program at Hartt. In addition, my wife Dolly and I, along with three other people, opened the Artist Collective, a nonprofit, multiarts cultural center that emphasizes African American arts and culture.”

McLean basically gave up the saxophone for a couple of years, and was away from the national scene for a considerably longer period of time.

“I only really stopped touching the horn between ’70 and ‘72,” said McLean. “Then, in ‘73, some jobs came up and I started practicing again. But I wasn’t recording, and most of my attention went to my activities at Hartt.

“Still, I’ve been working very hard at my own music, especially for the last few years, and I’ve been increasingly active as a saxophone player. Don’t forget, I have to keep my chops up, because I’m teaching the instrument.”

Among his current activities: A recently completed, five-week long, 70th birthday tour with his old boss, Blakey; a just-released new recording, “Dynasty” (Triloka Records); two other albums (with associates like Ron Carter, Johnny Griffin and Abbey Lincoln) scheduled for the fall; an active schedule of touring with his fine new quartet (two members of which are faculty associates at Hartt).

“I like to think I’m both a performer and an educator,” he said, “I’ve been studying the history of this music--and this planet too--for 22 years. I try to use the knowledge I’ve gained via that study, and via my experience as a performer, to present my students with a real picture of both the music, as well as the social problems surrounding it.”

“And it works the other way too. My world of music started with Lester Young. But going back, listening to Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and King Oliver, and teaching their music has given me a different perspective on my own playing.”