We Insist!

We Insist!
Studio album by
Max Roach
ReleasedDecember 1960 (1960-12)[1]
RecordedAugust 31 & September 6, 1960
StudioNola Penthouse Sound Studio, New York City
GenreAvant-garde jazz
Length37:17
LabelCandid
ProducerNat Hentoff
Max Roach chronology
Parisian Sketches
(1960) 		We Insist!
(1960) 		Percussion Bitter Sweet
(1961)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Guardian [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]
Allmusic[4]

We Insist! (subtitled Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite) is a jazz album which was released through Candid Records in December 1960. It contains a suite which composer and drummer Max Roach and lyricist Oscar Brown had begun to develop in 1959 with a view to its performance in 1963 on the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.[5][6] The cover references the sit-in movement of the Civil Rights Movement. The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album one of its rare crown accolades, in addition to featuring it as part of its Core Collection.

The music consists of five selections concerning the Emancipation Proclamation and the growing African independence movements of the 1950s. Only Roach and vocalist Abbey Lincoln perform on all five tracks, and one track features a guest appearance by saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.

In 2022, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.".[7]

  1. ^ Editorial Staff, Cash Box (17 December 1960). "December Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. The Cash Box, New York. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fordham was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Penguin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nastos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ LP liner notes by Nat Hentoff.
  6. ^ C.H. Garrigues, "A New Jazz Label Voices a Shocking Call for Freedom," San Francisco Examiner, March 12, 1961, page 23
  7. ^ Ulaby, Neda (13 April 2022). "The Library of Congress adds 25 titles, including Alicia Keys and Ricky Martin". NPR. Retrieved 13 April 2022.