Sonny Rollins - Freedom Suite (1958)

By February of 1958, when Sonny Rollins recorded "Freedom Suite", his political consciousness had risen to match the poetic scope of his music. In addressing his place as a creative artist and an African-American, Rollins recognized that both aspects of his being existed under second-class circumstances, and that it was time for this country to review these inequities. "Freedom Suite" was done in 1958, trying to make a statement about the freedom of his people and about his own musical freedom as well. This is after all, four years after Brown v. Board of Education... the beginning of, the building of the Civil Rights Movement. And Rollins wanted to make a contribution to that in his own way.

In recording with bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Max Roach, Rollins aligned himself with the modern jazz innovators who best exemplified his righteous brand of freedom. Pettiford is particularly inspired on trio and duo versions of "Till There Was You," where he displays an uncanny knack for enunciating lyrical syncopations without losing the flow of the beat or a sense of harmonic structure. His ringing half notes on the head to "Will You Still Be Mine?" set up a vibrant series of Rollins/Roach exchanges, while his charming solo distills the melody into its most swinging components. 

But it's "Freedom Suite," with its stunning stops and starts, extended variations, thematic interludes, and exhilarating denouement, that invites the most superlatives. Rollins' sense of sustained melodic invention is remarkable, as is his cyclical formal structure. The opening theme, with its affectionate parody of a formal overture, sets the band in motion, as if motifs and contrasting themes criss-cross and collide in a swinging trialogue. A waltz figure and dramatic, extended cadenza introduces one of Rollins' most touching ballads, richly tinted in smoky shades of blue, with some joyous buck and wing by Pettiford and Roach. Finally, a reprise of the waltz theme gives way to a climactic chase, inspiring some of Roach's most fervent, singing breaks, before a return to the opening theme ties it all up.

Tracklist:

The Freedom Suite (Sonny Rollins) – 19:17
Someday I'll Find You (Noël Coward) – 4:35
Will You Still Be Mine? (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 2:54
Till There Was You (Meredith Willson) – 4:54
Till There Was You [Alternate Take] (Willson) – 4:55
Shadow Waltz (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) – 4:08

Sonny Rollins - Freedom Suite (1958)

(320 kbps, cover art included)