We Insist! Freedom Now Suite

Roach, Max

album cover

A Peak of Jazz Activism

Max Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite is among a handful of jazz works to directly address slavery, racism, and the African American experience. On a purely musical level, it's arguably the most successful of them, because the drummer, a bebop-era veteran, does more than merely inventory the long list of injustices. With the help of a tremendous ensemble that includes three percussionists, he translates the frustration of the civil rights years into gales of vibrant sound—purposeful chants and grieving screams and inquisitive solos (from tenor legend Coleman Hawkins and others) that amplify the indignation of the title.

Roach (1924–2007) recognized that merely insisting on vague "change" was not enough—he had to make it "real" by confronting the protracted suffering of a people and the emotional scars that lingered over generations. He also recognized that the struggles were not unique to America: Several pieces look to Africa, enabling him to chart the diasporic connections between African, Afro-Cuban, and jazz rhythms. Still most of the pulse is derived from jazz. The critic Nat Hentoff, who was involved in the making of this record, said later that Roach regarded jazz as "an essential paradigm for constitutional democracy. In jazz each individual has a voice, but in order for it to work, the individuals must listen to each other."

Those involved in the five-part Freedom Now are clearly listening to each other; every-one calibrates his or her own contribution to align with the overall mission. The lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. reels off an account of a harsh slave driver, "Driva' Man," that is one chilling highlight, its message driven home by a needling, intensely focused improvisation from tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. Then there's the work of Abbey Lincoln, the cool-headed singer then married to Roach: On the drums/vocals duet called "Triptych: Prayer, Protest, Peace," Lincoln begins in a mood of deep introspection, then moves through a series of wordless moans, eddying cries, and shrieks that is unlike anything else in music—a riveting roar of feeling.

Genre: Jazz
Released: 1960, Candid
Key Tracks: "Tears for Johannesburg," "Triptych," "Driva' Man."
Catalog Choice: Clifford Brown and Max Roach
Next Stop: Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man
After That: Eugene McDaniels: Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
Book Pages: 647–648