Let Freedom Ring
Let Freedom Ring | ||||
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Studio album by Jackie McLean | ||||
Released | May 1963[1] | |||
Recorded | March 19, 1962 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ | |||
Genre | Hard bop, post-bop, modal jazz | |||
Length | 38:16 | |||
Label | Blue Note BST 84106 | |||
Producer | Alfred Lion | |||
Jackie McLean chronology | ||||
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Let Freedom Ring is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean, recorded in 1962 and released on the Blue Note label.[2] It features McLean in a quartet with pianist Walter Davis Jr., bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Billy Higgins.
McLean wrote three of the four compositions. "Melody for Melonae" is dedicated to his daughter (as was an earlier composition, "Little Melonae"), and appeared as "Melanie" on Matador, a later recording that he made with Kenny Dorham. The slower-tempo performance on Let Freedom Ring was the first occasion that McLean used "provocative upper-register screams".[3] "Rene" and "Omega" are both blues-related pieces, the former with a standard twelve-bar structure and harmonies, the latter more abstract and modal. The one non-McLean track is Bud Powell's ballad, "I'll Keep Loving You".
Reception
The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 5 stars and stated: "The success of Let Freedom Ring paved the way for a bumper crop of other modernist innovators to join the Blue Note roster and, artistically, it still stands with One Step Beyond as McLean's greatest work."[4] The Penguin Guide to Jazz gives Let Freedom Ring four out of four stars, and includes the album in a select "Core Collection".[5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [4] |
Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
Track listing
All compositions by Jackie McLean except where noted
- "Melody for Melonae" - 13:24
- "I'll Keep Loving You" (Bud Powell) - 6:18
- "Rene" - 10:03
- "Omega" - 8:31
Personnel
- Jackie McLean — alto saxophone
- Walter Davis, Jr. — piano
- Herbie Lewis — bass
- Billy Higgins — drums
References
- ^ Billboard May 18, 1963
- ^ Jackie McLean discography, accessed January 13, 2013.
- ^ Bob Blumenthal's liner notes to the 2003 RVG edition.
- ^ a b Huey, S. Allmusic review, accessed January 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. pp. 979–980. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 136. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- v
- t
- e
or
co-leader
- Presenting... Jackie McLean (1955)
- Lights Out! (1956)
- 4, 5 and 6 (1956)
- Jackie's Pal (1956)
- McLean's Scene (1957–59)
- Jackie McLean & Co. (1957)
- Makin' the Changes (1957)
- A Long Drink of the Blues (1957)
- Strange Blues (1957)
- Alto Madness (1957)
- Fat Jazz (1957)
- Jackie's Bag (1959–60)
- New Soil (1959)
- Swing, Swang, Swingin' (1959)
- Capuchin Swing (1960)
- Street Singer (with Tina Brooks, 1960)
- Bluesnik (1961)
- A Fickle Sonance (1961)
- Let Freedom Ring (1962)
- Tippin' the Scales (1962)
- Vertigo (1962–63)
- Hipnosis (1962–67)
- One Step Beyond (1963)
- Destination... Out! (1963)
- It's Time! (1964)
- Action Action Action (1964)
- Right Now! (1965)
- Jacknife (1965–66)
- Consequence (1965)
- New and Old Gospel (1967)
- 'Bout Soul (1967)
- Demon's Dance (1967)
- Live at Montmartre (1972)
- Ode to Super (1973)
- A Ghetto Lullaby (1973)
- Altissimo (1973)
- The Meeting (1973)
- The Source (1973)
- Antiquity (1974)
- New York Calling (1974)
- New Wine in Old Bottles (1978)
- One Night with Blue Note Preserved Volume 2 (1985)
- It's About Time (1985)
- Hat Trick (1996)
others
- The Happy Blues (Gene Ammons, 1956)
- Jammin' with Gene (Gene Ammons, 1956)
- Funky (Gene Ammons, 1957)
- Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons (Gene Ammons, 1957)
- Hard Bop (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956)
- Originally (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956 [1982])
- Drum Suite (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956–57)
- A Night in Tunisia (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, Vik/RCA, 1957)
- Ritual: The Modern Jazz Messengers (Art Blakey, 1957)
- Tough! (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1957)
- Back to the Tracks (Tina Brooks, 1960)
- 2 Guitars (Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Raney, 1957)
- Off to the Races (Donald Byrd, 1958)
- Fuego (Donald Byrd, 1959)
- Byrd in Flight (Donald Byrd, 1960)
- Cool Struttin' (Sonny Clark, 1958)
- Dig (Miles Davis, 1951)
- Quintet/Sextet (Miles Davis, 1955)
- Davis Cup (Walter Davis Jr., 1959)
- Inta Somethin' (Kenny Dorham, 1961)
- Matador (Kenny Dorham, 1962)
- Tuba Sounds (Ray Draper, 1957)
- 2 Trumpets (Art Farmer, 1957)
- Bird Songs: The Final Recordings (Dizzy Gillespie, 1992)
- To Bird with Love (Dizzy Gillespie, 1992)
- Pithecanthropus Erectus (Charles Mingus, 1956)
- Blues & Roots (Charles Mingus, 1958)
- Mobley's Message (Hank Mobley, Prestige, 1956)
- Hi Voltage (Hank Mobley, 1967)
- Evolution (Grachan Moncur III, 1963)
- Lee-Way (Lee Morgan, 1960)
- Tom Cat (Lee Morgan, 1964)
- Cornbread (Lee Morgan, 1965)
- Infinity (Lee Morgan, 1965)
- Charisma (Lee Morgan, 1966)
- The Sixth Sense (Lee Morgan, 1967–68)
- The Music From "The Connection" (Freddie Redd, 1960)
- Shades of Redd (Freddie Redd, 1960)
- Redd's Blues (Freddie Redd, 1961)
- Open House (Jimmy Smith, 1960)
- Plain Talk (Jimmy Smith, 1960)
- Taylor's Wailers (Art Taylor, 1957)
- Mal/2 (Mal Waldron, 1957)
- Left Alone (Mal Waldron, 1959)
- Left Alone '86 (Mal Waldron, 1986)
- Easterly Winds (Jack Wilson, 1967)
appearances
- The Connection (Shirley Clarke, 1961)
- Jazz (Ken Burns, 2000)