[citation needed] In 2018, he returned to SUNY Purchase to complete a master's degree in studio composition, where he studied under Jakub Cuipinski and Adam Pietrykowski.
[1][2] McLean has performed or recorded with Antibalas, Sharon Jones and The Dapkings, Charles Bradley, The Roots, Jamie Lidell, TV on the Radio, Ornette Coleman, David Byrne, St. Vincent, Patti Smith, Valerie June, Angelique Kidjo, Amadou and Miriam, Nicole Atkins, Patti LaBelle, Billy Gibbons, My Morning Jacket, The Alabama Shakes, Matisyahu, Santigold, Azelia Banks, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cage The Elephant, Deer Tick, Tony Allen, Sinkane, Atomic Bomb, Charles Llyod, Joshua Redman, Steven Tyler, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Lady A, Strand Of Oaks, Thievery Corporation, Lux Prima, Amy Helm, Dr. Dog, Scott McMicken, Zach Bryan, and Shantell Martin.
[citation needed] In 2013, McLean and drummer/performance artist John Walter Bollinger contributed to the video compilation of art pieces celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Do It.
[citation needed] The band released a self-titled 10-inch 45 rpm EP on System Dialing Records in 2018 featuring original music by McLean and singer/pianist Amayo.
Frequent guest collaborators include trombonist Dave “Smoota” Smith, saxophonist Cocheme’a Gastellum, drummer Greg Gonzalez and other members of the Daptone Records family of musicians.
Beginning as duo with Amir Ziv, the band expanded to include Nikhil P. Yerawadekar on bass, Ricardo Quinones on guitar and Sahr N’gaujah with whom McLean shared lead vocals.
[7] He has adapted and conducted Mauricio Kagel's Music For Renaissance Instruments[8] and actively commissions promising young arrangers for radical re-orchestrations of masterworks.
Most recently he was commissioned by The Bronxville Public Library for a dance suit Bronze In The Digital Age”,[9][failed verification] a multi-media piece based on five sculptures by Pierre Rodin, and a new work, PANGRAM, for Siren Baroque chamber orchestra.
Together they formed the electro-acoustic group DROID, including theBrazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista and former Miles Davis music director Adam Holzman.