Today in the States, it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday since 1986 but not observed by all states until 2000. I thought it would be fitting to hear seven jazz tributes to the civil rights leader and the movement. Each of the jazz pieces that follows is a heartfelt work rooted in the church and King's spirit:
Here's John Coltrane playing Alabama on Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual TV show in San Francisco. The song uses the cadence from Martin Luther King's speech in Sept. 1963 following the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four girls...
Here's Duke Ellington's King Fit the Battle of Alabam', from My People Original Soundtrack recorded in Aug. 1963...
Here's Grant Green's The Selma March from His Majesty King Funk from May 1965, featuring Harold Vick (ts), Larry Young (org), Grant Green (g), Ben Dixon (d) and Candido Camero (cga)...
Here's Blue Mitchell's March on Selma in July 1965 from Mitchell's Down With It, featuring Blue Mitchell (tp), Junior Cook (ts), Chick Corea (p), Gene Taylor (b) and Aloysius Foster (d)...
Here's Billy Taylor playing I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free from 1967, with Ben Tucker (b) and Grady Tate (d)...
Here's Martin Luther King Jr. by Cecil Payne in Dec. 1968 following King's assassination in April 1968. The track is from Payne's Zodiac album, with Kenny Dorham (tp), Cecil Payne (bar), Wynton Kelly (p), Wilbur Ware (b) and Albert "Tootie" Heath (d)...
And here's Oliver Nelson's Martin Was a Man, A Real Man, from Black, Brown and Beautiful in 1969...
