The original Candid label lasted a mere four years, from 1960 to 1964, but its 30-some LPs played a worthy role in fusing the period's music, mainly modern jazz but also blues, with the burgeoning civil rights movement. Candid achieved legendary status, the series was born in 1960 when Archie Bleyer decided to indulge his love of jazz and blues and create his own releases, produced by Nat Hentoff.

• All Analog Mastering
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman
• Cut Directly From The Original Master Tapes
• Deluxe tip-on cover
• 180 Gram Vinyl
• Plating at RTI, USA
• Liner notes by Nat Hentoff
• Made in USA

The original Candid record label lasted a mere four years, from 1960 to '64, and its 30-some LPs played a worthy role in fusing the period's music — mainly modern jazz but also blues — with the burgeoning civil rights movement.

The American Candid label has achieved a near legendary status among the critics and the International jazz and blues public. The series was born in 1960 when Archie Bleyer, owner of the Cadence label decided to indulge his love of jazz and blues and create his own line — called Candid. Bleyer recruited Hentoff to produce the series.

A tour de force among the initial five reissues released for this series is drummer/writer Max Roach's We Insist! spotlighting tenor saxman Hawkins, Nigerian drummer Michael Olatunji, and Lincoln on vocals. The lunch-counter cover photo — reflecting the early-'60s sit-ins to protest segregated restaurants — captures the suite's intent: to present the Black experience from Africa to slavery in America to the present and onward with a look to Mother Africa. Set in 1863, "Freedom Day" refers to President Abe Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, whose centennial was approaching.

Throughout the suite's five tracks (including "Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace") Lincoln's arresting vocals extend to wordless vocalese as well as chanting African tribes' names in a duet with Olatunji, whose three drums include one carved from a tree trunk. Spontaneity was a key. Coleman's response to possibly editing out a squeak in his playing (back in the day of manual editing a session's magnetic tapes) was "No, don't splice. When it's all perfect, especially in a piece like this, there's something very wrong." Sixty-plus years after these sessions, their power is still overwhelming.

Musicians:

Bass – James Schenck
Congas – Michael Olatunji
Drums – Max Roach
Percussion – Raymond Mantillo
Tenor Saxophone – Coleman Hawkins
Tenor Saxophone – Walter Benton
Trombone – Julian Priester
Trumpet – Booker Little
Vocals – Abbey Lincoln

Track Listing:

1. Driva Man
2. Freedom Day
3. Triptych Prayer/Protest/Peace
4. All Africa
5. Tears For Johannesburg

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫