We Insist!
Candid, 2022
8/10
A vocal-instrumental masterpiece, We Insist! was originally released in 1961, and made an indelible statement regarding the Civil Rights Movement that solidified the effort as one of the most significant jazz albums in history.
Remastered from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman, and with new liner notes from Nat Hentoff, the album lives again and features Abbey Lincoln (vocals), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Eric Dolphy, Booker Little (trumpet), Michael Babatunde Olatunji (congas), Julian Priester (trombone), Walter Benton (tenor sax), Thomas DuVall (percussion), Ray Mantilla (percussion) and James Schenck (bass). Max Roach, of course, handles drums, and anchors these timeless pieces.
“Driva Man” opens the listen with Lincoln’s unmistakably powerful vocals alongside bare percussion, and it’s not long before adventurous brass and frisky drumming enter, and “Freedom Day” follows with flowing horns, Lincoln’s political/social prose and no lack of avant-garde ideas.
The middle track belongs to “Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace”, where a gospel spirit is emitted amid wordless singing that’s nothing short of stunning, while “All Africa” pairs Roach’s precise drumming with Lincoln’s flawless pipes for an initially sparse delivery that, halfway through, turns into a very busy display of acrobatic, percussive prowess.
The album exits on “Tears For Johannesburg”, where dynamic and flourishing jazz builds into the textured warmth of brass, drums and alluring singing.
A listen that was inspired by the sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, this was just the 2nd release from the legendary Candid Label, and it cemented them as a major player in the area of jazz.
In the spring of 2022 the album was selected by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’, and this fine reissue certainly supports that sentiment in spades.
Travels well with: Abbey Lincoln- Straight Ahead; Charles Mingus- Charles Mingus