We Insist! Freedom Now Suite
Max Roach, composer | Oscar Brown, lyricist
Nasheet Waits, Music Director & percussion
WITH
Rashaan Carter, bass
Ravi Coltrane, saxophone
Josh Evans, trumpet
Cassandra Wilson, vocals
Sonia Sanchez, poetry
Melvis Santa, percussion
David Virelles, piano
Saul Williams, poetry
Jordan Young, alto saxophone
The revolutionary 1960 album We Insist!: Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite explored issues of social justice and racial inequality through the lens of jazz and poetry. In celebration of the centennial of Max Roach—drummer, bebop pioneer, and civil rights activist—this landmark work is reimagined for today’s world.
At this special concert event, Musical Director Nasheet Waits (of Max’s percussion ensemble M’Boom) and a star-studded lineup present a modern evolution of the Freedom Now Suite, a piece that continues to live, expand, and inspire across generations.
“We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we’re master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we’ve been through.”
—Max Roach to DownBeat magazine
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