Although
Von Freeman's unusual, very recognizable tone has been admired by jazz's avant-garde, the tenorman has always been a hard bopper/post-bopper first and foremost. And that's what makes a
Freeman recording jump right out at you -- his tone sounds like it belongs on an AACM recording, but he tackles swift bop chord changes with such enthusiasm that you know bop was his calling.
Freeman is in fine form on
Lester Leaps In, an unapologetic hard bop date employing pianist
Jodie Christian, bassist
Eddie de Haas and drummer
Wilbur Campbell. The saxman was 69 when this CD was recorded in Paris, and he sounds like he's very much in his prime on hard-swinging, passionate versions of
Charlie Parker's "Scrapple from the Apple" and
Lester Young's "Lester Leaps In." The album is unlikely to convert those who aren't already sold on
Freeman's merits, but the Chicagoan's admirers wound do well to find a copy.