Listen to Lenny Kravitz’s euphoric new song “Road to Freedom”

Lenny Kravitz has released new music. Shortly after the release of the blistering “TK421”, the first single from his March-anticipated Blue electric light LP, the 59-year-old musician and four-time Grammy winner, has now also released an original song for the Netflix film Rustin (now in theaters; on Netflix on November 17). The soulful track “Road to Freedom” is a fitting soundscape for the inspiring story.

The film, directed by George C. Wolfe, is about Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), a gay man who organized the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Rustin worked as an advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and dedicated his life, as the synopsis states, “to the pursuit of racial equality, human rights and global democracy.” But his private life – scandalous at the time – has caused him to almost completely disappear from the records of the civil rights movement.

In an interview with diversity, Wolfe revealed how the cut came about — and why Kravitz was the right man for the job. “I first met Lenny very early in both of our careers … and the first time I heard him sing a cappella, and I remember the sound very vividly, and the quality of his voice seemed just perfect for the end of the film,” he said. “The one note I gave him was the song that would take us as an audience from feeling to action. And trombones. I begged for trombones.” (Listen to “Road to Freedom” and you’ll see that Wolfe’s wish came true.)

Wolfe said the idea for the horn arrangement came from a conversation with composer Branford Marsalis, with whom he also worked on his film “The 2020.” Ma Rainey’s black ass.”“Ever since Branford showed me a recording of the United House of Prayer’s sacred trombone choir, I’ve been intrigued,” Wolfe explained. “Lenny took my request a step further and brought the legendary Trombone Shorty on board. ‘Road to Freedom’ captures both 1963 and 2023; a bold celebration as Lenny’s voice preaches and soars.”

Regard Rustin on Netflix

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