CAN'T STOP THE BOP

He's a bebop originator who's played with everyone from Charlie Parker to Jimmy McGriff. Now 96 and fronting a new album, Chicago guitarist George Freeman shows no sign of slowing down

- NIKKI O'NEILL

GEORGE FREEMAN MAY have only been in his teens, but he was a visionary. In the early 1940s, as a youngster in the band program at DuSable High School, Chicago's legendary birthplace of bebop, Freeman shared classes with jazz legends attending the school, who over the years included saxophonists Gene Ammons, Eddie Harris, Johnny Griffin, and his own brother, tenor saxophonist Earle "Von" Freeman. But while other guitarists were settling for the more established role of a chord-strumming accompanist, Freeman saw another place for guitar, in the front, where he could play the same lines as these great Chicago tenor players.

Fast forward a few years to his live 1950 performances with Charlie Parker at the Pershing Ballroom. Recordings from these dates show Freeman didn't shy away from using amp overdrive and even power chords as he swapped solos with Bird, firing off chromatic phrases and his trademark escalating chord clusters, which race away from the key until he brings everything home and right back into the groove.

As rock rhythm and blues began to take over the market from jazz in the 1950s and '60s, Freeman absorbed these signs of the times by teaming up with jazz organists like Jimmy McGriff and Charlie Earland to champion a blend of hard-boppin' soul jazz with references to Chicago gospel and blues. In the '70s, Freeman's creative fires turned white hot on Gene Ammons' 1971 album The Black Cat!, the 1972 solo disc Franticdiagnosis, and McGriff's live album from the same year, Concert: Friday the 13th-Cook County Jail. In addition to his bebop virtuosity, Freeman is a lyrical melody player with a deep blues feel and appreciation for space, as showcased on tracks like "Confirmed Truth," from his 1974 solo effort New Improved Funk.