Sweet Freedom Now What

Reception

Allmusic reviewer Alex Henderson states "In 1994, Joe McPhee entered a studio in Zurich, Switzerland and recorded this thoughtful yet chance-taking response to Max Roach's ambitious Freedom Now Suite of 1960 ... McPhee doesn't treat Roach's compositions like museum pieces; instead, he embraces them on his own terms and brings many of his own ideas to the table ... the element of surprise is exactly what McPhee is going for on this rewarding, AACM-influenced inside/outside date".

Track listing

All compositions by Max Roach except as indicated

1. "Mendacity (slow)" (Roach, C. Bayen) - 4:34
2. "Driva Man" (Roach, Oscar Brown, Jr.) - 4:21
3. "Roost 2" (Lisle Ellis) - 4:27
4. "Self Portrait/Lift Every Voice and Sing" (Roach/James Weldon Johnson, J. Rosamond Johnson) - 9:50
5. "Singing With a Sword in My Hand" (Traditional) - 1:23
6. "Roost 1" (Ellis) - 2:25
7. "Garvey's Ghost" - 12:45
8. "Approaching the Smoke That Thunders" (Ellis) - 4:53
9. "Triptych: (Prayer, Protest)/Prolepsis" (Max Roach/Paul Plimley) - 7:54
10. "Mendacity (fast)" (Roach, Bayen) - 6:02
11. "A Head of the Heartbeat" (Paul Plimley) - 3:38
12. "The Persistence of Rosewood" (Joe McPhee) - 9:39
13. "Roost (Coda)" (Ellis) - 0:40

Personnel