Legendary Guitarist George Freeman

A couple of days ago, I received some promotional material, which included as a headline: “New from the legendary guitarist George Freeman.” Once my attention was seized, I was then informed that Freeman “worked with the greats, such as Charlie Parker and Ben Webster.” That was enough to send me into my personal album collection. Sure enough, the four-CD anthology Charlie Parker: The Complete Live Performances on Savoy had six tracks from a set in Chicago on October 23, 1950 that included Freeman, who definitely knew how to weave his own melodic lines into Parker’s improvisations.

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of HighNote Records)

The title of Freeman’s new album, released by HighNote Records, is The Good Life, which is also the title of the album’s final track. That “standards” composition is complemented on the opening track by “If I Had You.” Sadly, the Amazon.com Web page associated with the above hyperlink is seriously stingy in providing any information that may guide the attention of the serious listener. The remaining tracks are Freeman originals. The most significant of them is probably “Lowe Groovin’,” which was first recorded in 1947 and would lead Freeman to explore contributions to the rock genre. It is also worth noting that the title of the second track, “Mr. D,” refers to Joey DeFrancesco.

Most important is that the album is basically a document of two separate trio sets. Rhythm for the first three tracks is provided by DeFrancesco on organ and Lewis Nash on drums. The trio for the remaining four tracks includes Christian McBride on bass and Carl Allen on drums.

However, even in the absence of any guiding commentary, there is more than enough to attract and sustain the attention of the serious jazz listener; and I suspect that my own listening desires will lead me back to this album from time to time.