Max Roach – We Insist: Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite (LP Vinyl)
Product Details
Recorded in 1960, the same year seventeen African nations gained independence, "We Insist!" arrived as a direct response to the civil rights movement and the broader struggle for Black freedom across the diaspora. Abbey Lincoln's raw, wordless vocals on "Triptych" remain one of the most viscerally powerful moments in recorded jazz history. Oscar Brown Jr. contributed lyrics rooted in the experience of enslavement, making this one of the most explicitly political statements any jazz musician had committed to wax up to that point.
Roach vowed after it's release that he would never again play music that is not socially relevant and told Down Beat magazine, "We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we're master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we've been through." The album inspired Roach to broaden his scope as a composer and collaborate with choreographers, filmmakers, and playwrights. The LP includes extraordinary liner notes written by Hentoff himself, giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these magnificent performances.
Tracklist
Side A
Side B
UPC: 708857300211
Label: Candid
Release Date: 10.21.22
Format: LP Vinyl