Lift Every Voice and Sing is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach with the J.C. White Singers recorded in 1971 and released on the Atlantic label.

Reception

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars and its review by Vincent Thomas states, "Few albums exhibit the church's lasting effect on his musical direction more than Lift Every Voice and Sing. It's deeper than the album title... it's the Elvin Jones/John Coltrane-esque interplay between Roach and Harper on "Joshua" that makes this album unforgettable—every time the choir comes in, the emotion is enough to crumble the Wall of Jericho".

Lift Every Voice and Sing (album)

Track listing

"Motherless Child" (Traditional) – 7:21

"Garden of Prayer" (Patricia Curtis, Max Roach) – 2:47

"Troubled Waters" (Traditional) – 7:00

"Let Thy People Go" (Traditional) – 6:50

"Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" (Traditional) – 5:48

"Joshua" (Traditional) – 7:12

Recorded in New York on April 7, 1971 (tracks 1 & 3–5), and April 8, 1971 (tracks 2 & 6)

Lift Every Voice and Sing (album)

Personnel

Max Roach – drums, arranger

Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet

Billy Harper – tenor saxophone

George Cables – piano

Eddie Mathias – electric bass

Ralph MacDonald – percussion

Ruby McClure, Dorothy White, J.C. White – vocals

Unidentified 22 voice choir

William Bell, Abbey Lincoln, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson – arranger

References

1971 albums

Max Roach albums

Atlantic Records albums

Albums produced by Joel Dorn

Lift Every Voice and Sing (album)