British saxophonist Denys Baptiste drew on the musical rhythms he found underlying the Rev. Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech in crafting the four-part suite on "Let Freedom Ring!" The CD, which includes a little unobtrusive poetry, reminds me somewhat of the Wynton Marsalis Pulitzer Prize-winner "Blood on the Fields" or Archie Shepp's "Cry of My People," although it isn't as long as the former nor as sonically diverse as the later.
What it is mostly, is excellent large-ensemble playing (generally a dozen instruments) with music that ranges from jazzy orchestration to free jazz. Good stuff.
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