CHRISTIE DASHIELL Vinilo y CD

Review: Boston-based drummer and producer Terri Lyne Carrington reconvenes Max Roach's 1961 landmark with a sharp eye on both lineage and forward motion. Originally conceived as a civil rights-era protest suite, the project blends jazz, voice, and African-diasporic rhythm to address racial justice with clarity and force. This reinterpretation is not a soft tribute - it's a generational handover. Christie Dashiell takes on Abbey Lincoln's vocal role with arresting precision, while the ensemble (including Morgan Guerin, Matthew Stevens and Milena Casado) brings freshness without losing tension. Julian Priester, the sole surviving member of the original lineup, offers a subtle but weighty cameo. Tracks like 'Driva' Man' and 'Triptych' are stretched into wider shapes, drawing on funk, gospel and Afro-Latin idioms without softening the message. As Carrington puts it, this isn't just homage - it's a new freedom suite for now. The message, more than 60 years later, still burns brightly.

Review: American jazz drummer, composer and songwriter Max Roach's original song 'Freedom Day' formed part of his landmark 1960 album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, made with lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. and sporting a searing vocal performance by Abbey Lincoln. The piece infamously rejoices at the emancipation of enslaved people in the US, yet it also refuses to shy from the continuation of racial injustices in the present day. Now, still amid the post-COVID fug, whence the messages of BLM and other movements resound as relevantly as ever before, Terri Lyne Carrington and Christie Dashiell's new reinterpretation of the Roach anthem hears a revivifying remix over jazz, electronics, and soulful vocals, retrofitting the original with signature percussions, electronics with a vibrant ensemble of Matthew Stevens, Simon Moullier, Morgan Guerin and Milena Casado.