Would Rather Choose One Discussion Response

Your response to a classmate (100 words) should come after you listen to the piece as well, sharing any additional thoughts you may have about what you are both listening to. Do not simple say “yes, I like this song too because of *copy and paste the original post here*”. Work to be reflective and thoughtful.

Classmate discussion

There are so many songs in this playlist that I enjoy and feel like I could listen to all day. This being said, the song I kept coming back to is “The Freedom Rider” by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. I kept listening to the other songs to see if I would rather choose one of them because I know this is an odd song, but it really just drew me in. I am a pianist and I love playing the piano, but I have always been drawn to the drums as well and really wanted to learn them, but never ended up doing so. This solo, it’s just amazing. Drums are usually used to keep tempo and give a song its beat, but this song is a straight 7:28 minutes of pure, amazing drum solo. I find it incredible how Blakey also makes the song almost sound melodic just using the drums and I love the passion you can tell he put into this piece. Every musician I’ve seen play plays their instrument with passion, but I love to watch drummers play. There is just something about it that brings out my inner drummer and I just imagine just letting go and having the freedom the play the drums with that level of passion.

Another piece about The Freedom Rider I like is its message. It brings attention to the freedom rider groups that took bus trips through America to protest the segregation that was still in place after the court ruling to abolish segregation. These people were faced with so much anger, violence, and unfairness, it seems almost fitting that the story is told by the controlled chaos of the drums. Everything about this song just draws me in with its passion and uniqueness. I would have absolutely loved to see Art Blakey perform this piece.