Two Regrets - Jackie McLean and Forgetting

I'm fond of telling people that I have two and only two regrets in life. The first, and most important, regret is that I never heard the great alto saxophone master Jackie McLean in person. My second regret is one I can't recall - I have the feeling it was a regret about a book that I had in my hands, but did not purchase. Was it J. Adams' two volume  commentary, The Republic of Plato that I had in hands many years ago at John King Books in Detroit? This feels right. Or was it the three volume Russell and Whitehead Principia Mathematica that I passed up in Ann Arbor years ago? Which of these blunders was the second forgotten regret doesn't matter; although saying that I've only had two regrets - McLean-regret and forgotten-regret - does have a hippy-dippy bite to it, a case of 1 + 1 = 1. A case of a real variable and a dummy variable, a mere place-holder for something real regret-wise, Russell-Whitehead-wise.
     John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (1931 - 2006) was born in New York City. His informal tutors were Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, and Charles Parker. In high school he was in a band with Kenny Drew and Sonny Rollins. In addition to being a master improvisor on the alto saxophone he was a music educator.  He was a member of groups headed by Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Art Blakey. But for the most part led his own bands. See the very informative links below.
     His saxophone sound was that of a sonic acetylene torch. He adapted some Miles Davis's improvisational moves in his playing, especially in his earlier recordings. Jackie McLean burned - listen to his 1991 live recording of "Cyclical" on The Jackie Mac Attack Live CD. I think this recording is about as close as any of who didn't hear Jackie Mac in person can get to imagining what he sounded like in person - fabulous, intense, angular, impossible to copy or imitate. He had this hipness in his playing that is associated in my mind with trumpet players like Lee Morgan, Charles Tolliver, Woody Shaw, and Donald Byrd - a percussive forward motion. Alto saxophonist and composer Oliver Lake has acknowledged Jackie McLean's influence. I think only very confident alto players of the caliber James Spaulding, Marshall Allen, or Oliver Lake can teach us today about Jackie McLean's deep artistry while displaying their own deep artistry and learning.
     Amiri Baraka's "Jackie Mc - Coming and Going" Chapter 84 in his collection Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music takes the reader to Jackie McLean's funeral and discusses his life and music. It is worthy of our attention.
     The music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a_NvhwjUag&feature=related
     The interviews:
http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Jazz-Portraits-674/episodes/Saxophonist-Jackie-McLean-9665
http://youtu.be/cfKR3LX559Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65LyEzkn3U