''Let Freedom Ring'' is an album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist

Jackie McLean John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...

, recorded in 1962 and released on the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

label.Jackie McLean discography
accessed January 13, 2013. It features McLean in a quartet with pianist

Walter Davis Jr. Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990) was an American bebop and hard bop pianist. Davis once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a body of work while never be ...

, bassist

Herbie Lewis Herbie Lewis (February 17, 1941 – May 18, 2007) was an American jazz double bassist. He played or recorded with Cannonball Adderley, Stanley Turrentine, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Harold Land, Jackie McLean, Archie Shepp, Tete Mo ...

and drummer

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, be ...

. 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 bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

'', a later recording that he made with

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...

. The slower-tempo performance on ''Let Freedom Ring'' was the first occasion that McLean used "provocative upper-register screams".Bob Blumenthal's liner notes to the 2003 RVG edition. "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 Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of modern ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, "I'll Keep Loving You".

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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 One Step Beyond may refer to: Music * ''One Step Beyond'' (Dungeon album) or the title song, 2004 * ''One Step Beyond'' (Jackie McLean album), 1963 * '' One Step Beyond...'', an album by Madness, or the title song (see below), 1979 * ''One Step ...

'' as McLean's greatest work." ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' gives ''Let Freedom Ring'' four out of four stars, and includes the album in a select "Core Collection".

Track listing

All compositions by Jackie McLean except where noted #"Melody for Melonae" - 13:24 #"I'll Keep Loving You" (

) - 6:18 #"Rene" - 10:03 #"Omega" - 8:31

Personnel

—

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Walter Davis, Jr. Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990) was an American bebop and hard bop pianist. Davis once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a body of work while never be ...

— piano *

— bass *

—

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{Authority control 1963 albums Jackie McLean albums Albums produced by Alfred Lion Blue Note Records albums Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio