Driva Man

Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln · 1961

Context

Written by Max Roach and Oscar Brown, this track opens the suite We Insist! (Candid, released in January 1961). Nat Hentoff sees in it the figure of the white overseer of slavery. Abbey Lincoln first sings the melody a cappella with a tambourine, over a five-beat measure and a six-bar blues repeated in pairs; Coleman Hawkins then takes four choruses.

In the genealogy of jazz

This track belongs to Free jazz, Hard bop. Among the origins and influences of Free jazz: Tristano School, Bebop (Minton's, Monroe's), Modal.

By the same artist

• Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace (1960)
• The World Is Falling Down (1990)

Sources

• EN: We Insist!

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