Freeworld - More Love (2024) Hi-Res

Freeworld was originally formed in Memphis in 1987 by sax player Dr. Herman Green and a young bass player Richard Cushing and quickly became a Beale Street staple playing rock, soul, blues, jazz, reggae and gospel. The band has had a rotation of players over the years constituting dozens of current and former members. Green passed away in 2020, but Cushing has maintained the band. Today, he still plays bass, provides the backing vocals, and is the writer or co-writer of most of the original songs on the album. Sax player Peter Climie also shares most of the writing or co-writing on the album. More Love is the band’s eighth album.

The other current members of Freeworld are Courtney Reid on lead vocals; Cedric Taylor on Hammond B3, grand piano, Wurlitzer & Nord; Alex Schuetrumpf on trumpet, piccolo trumpet and flugelhorn; Frank Paladino on baritone sax; Freedman Steorts on trombone; Walter Hughes on guitar and Matt Sweatt on drums. Over a dozen other guest performers are added to the line-up.

You are invited to “Take the journey, enjoy the ride” on the opening track, the funk driven “Outa Sight” featuring Cedric’s pulsing organ and the sax members. They then deliver a positive message beseeching everyone to “Give Until You Live” and cites “one boy is born with a silver spoon, another on is born without” and “Sharing ain’t giving until you need it”. Cedric pulls out a honky tonk piano on this one. The Tennessee Mass Choir guests in the gospel sounding title song suggesting “Spread your love to those around you / What’ll happen will astound you”.

“Red Moon” is an instrumental tribute to Herman Green and features four of the original members – Willie Waldman on flugelhorn, Clint Wagner and Gene Nunez on guitars along with Cushing. Green has a brief spoken word conclusion to the song. Next, they plea “It’s time for justice to arise / We’ve got to open our eyes / And start listening to the wise” on “To Arise”. “Rush Hour” is a powerhouse instrumental featuring explosive guitar and keyboards.

“Heart on the Table” shows their reggae influence and urges everyone to “Seek the truth, quit chasing those fables”. “11:11 on Beale Street” is a jazzy late-night styled instrumental with a spoken poetic word conclusion offering a take on life in Memphis with the declaration that “We are home of the blues / birthplace of Rock & Roll”. The band delivers another message with “Don’t live your “Life for Tomorrow”, live it today”.

“Who Knew” is a jazzy sax led instrumental. They then bring back the funk and cite “Nothin’ Wrong” “in a world where we belong, we just dance and sing our songs” and at times reminds of a song that could come from Jungle Book. Color Trip” is a 7-minute instrumental allowing each instrumentalist to have a moment in the spotlight.

“More Love (Alternate Version)” is a bonus cut featuring Walter White and Jerome Chism sharing the vocal lead with Courtney Reid. The album concludes with “D-Up (Here’s to Diversity)” the musical soundtrack to an award-winning video the band made in 2022. The song has contributions from over three dozen Memphis artists noting “Sink or swim, we’re all in this together / And there’ll be time when it’s more than we can weather / With communication, respect, and harmony / Here’s to diversity”.

The horn driven band will lend you to think of Tower of Power, and at times early Chicago or Blood, Sweat and Tears. While the horns are certainly dominant in most songs, the guitar and keyboards and excellent vocals by Courtney Reid are all strong elements of the album.