The Panther and the Lash
The Panther and the Lash is an album by American free jazz trumpeter and trombonist Clifford Thornton, which was recorded live in 1970 in Paris, originally released on the French America label and reissued on CD in 2004 by Universal France. Background. Thornton leads a quartet with two local musician from the French free jazz scene: pianist François Tusques and bassist Beb Guérin, and the expatriate American drummer Noel McGhie. The title of the album references the American poet Langston Hughes's final book. The leader own's composition "Huey Is Free" celebrates the release  of the founder of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton. Reception. In his review for AllMusic, Dan Warburton states "Thornton is in absolutely breathtaking form throughout this live set." The "Exclaim!" review by Nate Dorward says that the album "offers a near-perfect balance of the best characteristics of classic free jazz: it’s an earthy, engaging mixture of populist, World music and avant-garde elements, often explicitly politicised." "The Penguin Guide to Jazz" notes that "it's strong, undated music that restores Thornton's almost vanished reputation to a large degree."