Jackie McLean

On Let Freedom Ring, Jackie McLean fronts a quartet with Walter Davis Jr. on piano, Herbie Lewison bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, and turns the LP format into a manifesto. Stark, ringing themes and open, modal frameworks give the music a declamatory character, while McLean’s alto pushes into the upper register with cries and shouts that go beyond tidy bebop language. Higgins and Lewis oscillate between march‑like insistence and freer undercurrents, and Davis’ piano alternately anchors and agitates. The record is searching, sometimes raw, and clearly aware of the wider social upheavals of its time – its title is no empty phrase.