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REVIEW: Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't: Jazz and the Making of the Sixties

Jason Robinson

Published: 2005-09-01

This is a review of Scott Saul's expansive study of innovative musical practices and their impact on a number of discourses. Robinson concludes that "Saul's book makes a valuable contribution to a more detailed understanding of the music of Mingus, Coltrane, and other African American artists that sought new modes of expression and social engagement in the 1950s and 60s.

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Improvisation implies a deep connection between the personal and the communal, self and world. A “good” improviser successfully navigates musical and institutional boundaries and the desire for self-expression, pleasing not only herself but the listener as well.

– Rob Wallace