As tens of thousands of protestors march against police brutality and systemic racism, one album demands to be heard. We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite is a protest record from 1960, and the inspiration behind many subsequent works including ‘The Reverend King Suite’ from Jack DeJohnette’s Sorcery (1974). As Ollie mentioned, Roach said after its release: “I will never again play anything that does not have social significance.”
We Insist! was originally conceived for the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963, but Roach being a drummer, timing was everything. Inspired by the American sit-in movement (as referenced on the controversial album cover) and African independence movements of the 1950s, Roach and lyricist Oscar Brown composed a suite that charts an ongoing history of black oppression and freedom struggle.
Musically the album incorporates East Coast free jazz, African rhythms and more percussion than you can shake a pair of sticks at. Abbey Lincoln’s (also an activist and Roach’s future wife) forceful vocals and Coleman Hawkins’ powerful saxophone trade a haunting slavery melody on the opening track ‘Driva Man’, where Roach’s drums evoke the repetitive toil of forced labour.
The 5/4 rhythm appears again on the beautiful ‘Tears for Johannesburg’, a response to the South African Sharpeville massacre of 1960. The piece is (exclamation) marked by mournful vocals and crying horns, building in percussive anger and moving intensity. Because it’s jazz, the song inverts traditional song structure by opening with variations of the theme and closing with its “most direct statement”, as noted by Ingrid Monson.
Freedom Now Suite‘s liner notes begin with a quote from activist and politician A. Philip Randolph that talks about “America’s unfinished revolution.” That the record still sounds so urgent and vital is testament to the power of the music and the failure of American society to listen to black voices. Donate to Black Lives Matter US / UK and listen to Max Roach. We insist.
If you enjoyed this post and want to stay updated, make sure to subscribe to our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram and Twitter!
