Beta’s Substack · May 26, 2026

Freedom from the Known

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Sonny Rollins and the quest for black consciousness that led to Freedom Suite

Back in 2020, in the cloistered early days of the global pandemic, I received a commission to write liner notes for a reissue of Sonny Rollins’s curiously overlooked 1958 album, Freedom Suite. In honor of the legend’s passing yesterday, I’m posting the text here, with some additional quotes from Gary Bartz, which were cut from the final document.

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