The Freedom Rider

The Freedom Rider
Studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Released	February 1964[1]
Recorded	February 12 (#7-8), February 18 (#4), and May 27 (#1-3, 5-6), 1961 Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs
Genre	Jazz
Length	54:01 (CD reissue)
Label	Blue Note Records BST 84156
Producer	Alfred Lion
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers chronology
Pisces (1961) The Freedom Rider (1961) Roots & Herbs (1961)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]

The Freedom Rider is an album by jazz drummer Art Blakey and his group the Jazz Messengers. Continuing Blakey's distinct brand of hard bop, this album features contributions from Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Blakey himself, and Kenny Dorham, a former Jazz Messenger. This was the final album by this particular edition of the Jazz Messengers, who had been together for 18 months, as Lee Morgan left after this album to be replaced by a young Freddie Hubbard. The compositions themselves are varied, with Blakey contributing an energetic drum solo on "The Freedom Rider"; at least three of the compositions on the album are blues pieces. "El Toro" features a solo by Shorter incorporating the sheets of sound technique pioneered by John Coltrane.

Track listing

1. "Tell It Like It Is" (Shorter) – 7:53
2. "The Freedom Rider" (Blakey) – 7:25
3. "El Toro" (Shorter) – 6:20
4. "Petty Larceny" (Morgan) – 6:14
5. "Blue Lace" (Morgan) – 5:59
6. "Uptight" (Morgan) – 6:12
7. "Pisces" (Morgan) – 6:52
8. "Blue Ching" (Dorham) – 6:43

Personnel

• Art Blakey — drums
• Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
• Lee Morgan — trumpet
• Bobby Timmons — piano
• Jymie Merritt — double bass

References