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Jackie McLean's music was closely intertwined with avant-garde styles in the 1960s – with the brilliant albums “One Step Beyond” and “Destination... Out!” from 1963 – before moving on to free jazz with “New And Old Gospel” (with Ornette Coleman on trumpet) and “'Bout Soul” from 1967. The album Let Freedom Ring, released in 1962, reflected the change that was in the air in the early 1960s, based on the musical freedoms vehemently demanded by the then emerging avant-garde movement and the social rights sought by the civil rights movement. The four pieces in the program are accompanied by the pianist Walter Davis Jr., double bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Billy Higgins, who harmoniously combine the blues language of hard bop with the unbridled energy of “The New Thing,” another name for free jazz. McLean's rousing saxophone comes into its own, sometimes screaming, sometimes soothing, as the quartet plays three impressive original compositions by McLean: “Melody For Melonae” (dedicated to McLean's daughter), “Rene” (dedicated to his son) and “Omega” (dedicated to his mother). The program is rounded off by a moving interpretation of Bud Powell's ballad “I'll Keep Loving You”.
JAs part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series”, Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for the analog reissues of Blue Note US such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited-edition Japan only UHQCD with OBI Stripe. The recording session for “Let Freedom Ring” took place on March 19, 1962 at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
1. Melody For Melonae
2. I'll Keep Loving You
3. Rene
4. Omega