Broadcast on 18-May-2009

From the early 60's on drummer/composer/Jazz pioneer, Max Roach made a vow to never play or record anything that did not have some form of political significance. Usually music and politics are a bad mix with music often taking a back seat but with Mr. Roach this was not the case. Max became a champion of civil rights and although others made strong statements about the plight of African-Americans, Max's voice was among the most articulate and musical. Roach was blacklisted from recording for many years in the 60's for his political stance. This album is a follow-up to his famous "Freedom Now Suite" and his first of two for the forward thinking Impulse label.His band includes the late trumpeter Booker Little, who was only two months away from his death at 23 from uremia. Julian Priester is on trombone, Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone, and Eric Dolphy is heard on alto saxophone,flute and bass clarinet. Mal Waldron is on piano and Art Davis is on bass and on several tunes two percussionists are added in the persons of Carlos "Patato" Valdes on congas and Carlos "Totico" Eugenio on timbales and assorted percussion. Two vocals are by Abbey Lincoln. All the compositions and arrangements are by Max Roach and the recording was done over several days in August of 1961. This album is both a strong political and musical statement by one of the true giants of Jazz and creative music, Max Roach.