{"title":"Chico Freeman","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn Earl Lavon Freeman Jr. on 17 July 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, Chico Freeman is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, and bass clarinetist whose sound bridges advanced hard bop and nearly free avant-garde jazz, son of legendary NEA Jazz Master tenor saxophonist Von Freeman. Part of Chicago's \"First Family of Jazz\" with his father Von, uncle George Freeman on guitar, and uncle Bruz Freeman on drums, Freeman took piano lessons as a child before finding a trumpet in the family basement and teaching himself to play, inspired by Miles Davis' \u003cem\u003eKind of Blue\u003c\/em\u003e. Earning a mathematics scholarship to Northwestern University in 1967, he played trumpet in the school jazz band whilst sitting in on his father's jam sessions at Betty Lou's on weekends, but did not discover the tenor saxophone until his junior year when he took a woodwind class and spotted a tenor in the closet after returning his loaned alto.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePractising eight to ten hours daily, Freeman quickly changed his major to music and graduated in 1972 with proficiencies in saxophone, trumpet, and piano before earning a master's degree in composition and theory from Governor's State University. He taught at the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians School of Music in Chicago, won Best Soloist and Best Saxophonist awards at the Intercollegiate Jazz Festival in South Bend, Indiana, and toured Brazil with the winning jazz band in 1976. His debut album \u003cem\u003eMorning Prayer\u003c\/em\u003e appeared in 1976, followed by a move to New York City in 1977 that launched the most productive period of his career with albums including \u003cem\u003eNo Time Left\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTradition in Transition\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Outside Within\u003c\/em\u003e, which won Stereo Review's Record of the Year in 1981. Freeman won the New York Jazz Award in 1979 and participated in the legendary Young Lions concert at Lincoln Center in June 1982 alongside Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D'Rivera, and Kevin Eubanks, contributing his 14-minute composition \"Whatever Happened to the Dream Deferred?\". In the mid-1980s he founded the all-star supergroup The Leaders with Cecil McBee, Kirk Lightsey, Lester Bowie, Arthur Blythe, and Famadou Don Moye, and in 1991 formed Roots with Nathan Davis, Benny Golson, Arthur Blythe, Buster Williams, and Winard Harper to celebrate the saxophone's 150th anniversary. His versatile career includes work with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Sam Rivers, Sun Ra, and Dizzy Gillespie.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"chico-freeman-quartet-no-time-left-1979-italian-black-saint-vinyl-lp","title":"Chico Freeman Quartet - No Time Left (1979 Italian Black Saint Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"1061\" data-end=\"1214\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: NM\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: EX\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOur grading system explained \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChico Freeman Quartet - \u003cem\u003eNo Time Left\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eVinyl\u003c\/em\u003e LP - 1979 Italian Black Saint with Japanese Insert\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTenor and soprano saxophonist Chico Freeman's Black Saint debut captures the Chicago musician leading a quartet through three extended modal compositions recorded on 8 and 9 June 1979 at Fontana Studios in Milan. Featuring vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, bassist Rick Rozie, and drummer Famoudou Don Moye (of the Art Ensemble of Chicago), the session demonstrates Freeman's ability to bridge Chicago's AACM avant-garde tradition with more accessible post-Coltrane modal jazz. The title track occupies the entire first side, while two shorter pieces fill side two. Released in 1979 on Italy's Black Saint label (distributed by IREC Milano), this pressing was imported to Japan and includes Japanese insert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFreeman's playing draws from Coltrane's modal explorations while incorporating the timbral experimentation and rhythmic freedom of Chicago's avant-garde scene. His multi-instrumental approach (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet) creates textural variety across the programme, while his compositions provide frameworks that balance written material with extended improvisation. Hoggard's vibraphone adds distinctive colour, the instrument's shimmering sustain creating harmonic beds for Freeman's explorations. Don Moye's percussion work, honed through years with the Art Ensemble, provides both structure and freedom, his approach treating rhythm as collective conversation rather than mere timekeeping.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe extended title track allows the quartet space to develop ideas organically, building intensity through collective interaction rather than predetermined structures. The shorter pieces on side two demonstrate Freeman's compositional range within the modal framework. Recorded at Fontana Studios in Milan and published by Nisha-Ayl Publishing Company, this Black Saint session captures Freeman at the beginning of a prolific recording career. Made in Italy and imported to Japan with Japanese insert, this pressing documents the post-AACM generation finding individual voices.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Black Saint","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43202406023227,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_6039.jpg?v=1770593371"},{"product_id":"chico-freeman-the-outside-within-1981-us-india-navigation-vinyl-lp","title":"Chico Freeman - The Outside Within (1981 US India Navigation Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"1214\" data-start=\"1061\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: EX\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: VG+\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOur grading system explained \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChico Freeman - \u003cem\u003eThe Outside Within\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 1981 India Navigation (IN 1042)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eChico Freeman was twenty-seven when this was recorded. Son of tenor saxophonist Von Freeman, Freeman grew up in Chicago, and had been recording for India Navigation since 1975. Influenced by the scales of the Far East, but with the warmth and extroverted emotions of the blues, the album is a key title from India Navigation's late 1970s run. \u003cem\u003eThe Outside Within\u003c\/em\u003e was recorded in 1978 but released until 1981. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recording session assembled a quartet that would have been difficult to improve: Cecil McBee on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and John Hicks on piano. McBee had played with Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders and was the most in-demand bassist in the post-Coltrane tradition. DeJohnette had been inside Miles Davis's \u003cem\u003eBitches Brew\u003c\/em\u003e band and was Sam Rivers's drummer, among many others. Hicks, a Bostonian who had worked with Art Blakey, brought warmth and swing to material that could have tipped further into abstraction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide A is one piece, \"Undercurrent,\" at approximately twenty minutes. Freeman plays tenor and bass clarinet, the bass clarinet most prominent in the quieter passages where McBee's low bass lines create a slow, searching harmonic floor. The three pieces on Side B move between different registers: \"The Search\" is the most open and expansive, \"Luna\" works with odd time signatures over a McBee bass and is superb, and \"Ascent\" closes the set with more direct hard bop energy. All four compositions are Freeman's. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eoriginal US pressing on India Navigation (IN 1042) released in 1981.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"India Navigation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43474256822331,"sku":null,"price":110.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_6795.jpg?v=1777618400"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/chico-freeman.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}