Free for All is a studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, recorded on February 10, 1964, and released on Blue Note Records in July 1965. It was originally titled Free Fall.Liner notes to the 2014 SHM-CD by Michael Cuscuna
The Allmusic review by Al Campbell awards the album 4 stars and states, "This edition of the Jazz Messengers had been together since 1961 with a lineup that would be hard to beat: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet... Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Cedar Walton on piano, and Reggie Workman on bass. Shorter's title track is one of the finest moments in the Jazz Messengers' history."
Composition Freddie Hubbard's composition "The Core" is dedicated to the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and expresses "Hubbard's admiration of that organization's persistence and resourcefulness in its work for total, meaningful equality." He explained: "They're getting at the core, at the center of the kinds of change that have to take place before this society is really open to everyone. And more than any other group, CORE is getting to youth, and that's where the center of change is." Hubbard also felt that the band "got at some of the core of jazz – the basic feelings and rhythms that are at the foundation of music" on the track.Original 1964 liner notes by Nat Hentoff
Clare Fischer's "Pensativa" was arranged by Hubbard for the occasion: "I was playing a gig in Long Island and the pianist started playing it. The mood got me, this feeling of a pensive woman. And the melody was so beautiful that, after I'd gotten home, I couldn't get it out of my mind."
The album was intended to have featured Wayne Shorter's composition "Eva" and two tracks with vocals by Wellington Blakey, bandleader Art Blakey's cousin. These were attempted, but no valid takes were recorded. Additionally, the musicians tried a second take of "Free for All", an attempt that producer Alfred Lion had to stop because Blakey's drums broke. This alternate take, first released on the limited 2014 Japanese SHM-CD remaster of the album, is three minutes shorter.
Track listing Original vinyl
2014 Blue Note SHM-CD Remaster Edition (Japan Release)
Personnel Art Blakey – drums Freddie Hubbard – trumpet Curtis Fuller – trombone Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone Cedar Walton – piano Reggie Workman – double bass
Charts + Chart performance for Free for All Chart (2026) Peakposition
References