Let Freedom Swing— available today on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records— is a fiery, live performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis captured shortly after the 2004 inauguration of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, the fabled House of Swing, in New York, NY. Featuring an all-star cast of musicians and actors, Let Freedom Swing showcases original music by a multinational group of composers set to orations of freedom fighters: Darius Brubeck and Zim Ngquawana (Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, read by Morgan Freeman), Toshiko Akiyoshi (Eleanor Roosevelt, read by Patricia Clarkson), Darin Atwater (Robert F. Kennedy, read by Keith David), Billy Childs (Martin Luther King Jr., read by Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III), Emil Vislicky (Vaclav Havel, read by Alfre Woodard and Mario Van Peebles), and Jimmy Heath (Lyndon B. Johnson, read by Glenn Close).

The Let Freedom Swing concert recorded as Jazz at Lincoln Center embarked on a new era in its permanent new home, signifies the organization’s commitment to the enduring and global struggle for personal rights and freedoms. From these concerts, Jazz at Lincoln Center developed its ongoing Let Freedom Swing education program, which has provided civic instruction to more than half a million students, educators, and community members nationwide.

“The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra stands for the most sacred, fundamental values that give substance to the meaning of our democracy. Integrity, when and wherever it shows up, comes with a price,” said Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director. “These speeches and this music, inspired by their purpose, bear witness to the human toll paid by those who looked directly into the glaring spotlight of corruption without blinking. They sacrificed mightily to reclaim our collective soul from the relentless forces of exploitation, subjugation, and mayhem… some paid with their lives.”

Let Freedom Swing is available on all digital streaming platforms. For more information and to select a preferred music service, visit Jazz.org/freedom.

Let Freedom Swing, the newest recording from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, is the second —following We The People, released on Feb. 27, 2026 – in a series from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records that articulate jazz’s ethical relationship to democracy, freedom, and collective life. The albums are part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new initiative, JazzCall for Freedom, which advances the proposition that jazz is one of America’s most powerful models for democratic practice.

“Our democracy is under relentless attack from abiding political polarization, deep cultural fragmentation, and a rising movement towards authoritarianism. In times of such uncertainty throughout American history, jazz has spoken in a very clear voice to reaffirm democratic values,” said Marsalis. “JazzCall For Freedom gives us the opportunity to express our civic concerns. It’s a cry through songs for ethics, cry against corruption, and a co-signature of the fact that we all play a part in our lives. We don’t want to just give over the power of governing to whatever it is we don’t agree with. It gives us a chance to speak as a community, as we always have. Jazz has always been civic minded music and it gives us a chance to be a part of that legacy. This is a JazzCall For Freedom.”

Jazz at Lincoln Center believes that culture and civics are intertwined. For four decades the organization has spoken jazz as a living civic language capable of addressing division, modeling pluralism, and sustaining democratic imagination without partisanship— and the message has been embraced. JazzCall for Freedom is Jazz at Lincoln Center’s civic contribution at a moment of deep division in our country.

For more information on JazzCall For Freedom, visit jazz.org/jazzcall.

Let Freedom Swing Track List

“The Fierce Urgency of Now”
Composed by Billy Childs
With words by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Read by Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III

“Day of Affirmation”
Composed by Darin Atwater
With words by Robert F. Kennedy
Read by Keith David

“Passion or Fashion”
Composed by Jimmy Heath
With words by President Lyndon B. Johnson
Read by Glenn Close

“The Mystery of Man”
Composed by Emil Viklicky
With words by Václav Havel
Read by Mario Van Peebles and Alfre Woodward

“Let Freedom Swing”
Composed by Toshiko Akiyoshi
With words by Eleanor Roosevelt
Read by Patricia Clarkson

“Commission 2004”
Composed by Zim Nggawana & Darius Brubeck
With words by Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Read by Morgan Freeman

Personnel:
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Wynton Marsalis – music director, trumpet
Gregory Gisbert – trumpet
Ryan Kisor – trumpet
Marcus Printup – trumpet
Ron Westray – trombone
Andre Hayward – trombone
Vincent Gardner – trombone
Max Siegel – bass trombone
Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson – alto & soprano saxophones
Ted Nash – alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute, piccolo
Walter Blanding – tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet
Victor Goines – tenor & soprano saxophones, Bb and bass clarinets
Joe Temperley – baritone & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
Eric Lewis – piano
Carlos Henriquez – bass
Herlin Riley – drums

Press Inquiries:
Zooey Tidal Jones
Senior Director, Public Relations & External Communications
Jazz at Lincoln Center
[email protected]
212-258-9821

Madelyn Gardner
Assistant Director, Public Relations & External Communications
Jazz at Lincoln Center
[email protected]
212-258-9868