Jackie McLean had always been a highly emotional soloist, so it makes sense that he was one of the first hard bop veterans to find a new voice in the burning intensity of jazz's emerging avant-garde.
McLean had previously experimented with
Coltrane's angular modes and scales and
Ornette's concept of chordal freedom, but
Let Freedom Ring was the landmark masterpiece where he put everything together and ushered in the era of the modernists at Blue Note. A number of saxophonists were beginning to explore the ability of the instrument to mimic human cries of passion, and here
McLean perfected a long, piercing squeal capable of expressing joy, anguish, fury, and more. The music on
Let Freedom Ring remained more rooted in hard bop structure than
Coleman's, and
McLean was still recognizably himself, but that was precisely what was revolutionary about the album: It validated the avant-garde aesthetic, demonstrating that it had enough value to convert members of the old guard, and wasn't just the province of radical outcasts. There are only four pieces, one of which is the surging
Bud Powell ballad "I'll Keep Loving You"; the other three are
McLean originals ("Melody for Melonae," "Rene," and "Omega," dedicated to his daughter, son, and mother respectively) that spotlight his tremendous inventiveness on extended material and amaze with a smoldering fire that never lets up. Pianist
Walter Davis takes the occasional solo, but the record is
McLean's statement of purpose, and he accordingly dominates the proceedings, with the busy, free-flowing dialogues of bassist
Herbie Lewis and
Ornette drummer
Billy Higgins pushing him to even greater heights. The success of
Let Freedom Ring paved the way for a bumper crop of other modernist innovators to join the Blue Note roster and, artistically, it still stands with
One Step Beyond as
McLean's greatest work.