Archie Shepp - A Sea Of Faces (1975)

Although this performance from 1975 was known and appreciated by the then fans, some jazz critics, lamenting at the evolution of Shepp's music (thought to deviate from the royal road of politico-musical correctness), have failed to notice its remarkable qualities. While I agree with those connoisseurs that some details in this recording are less inspiring (Burrell's piano solo on "Hipnosis", Shepp's own piano playing on "I Know 'Bout The Life", etc.), such criticisms virtually fade into nothing when you allow yourself to be carried away by the 25 minute "Hipnosis" (Grachan Moncur's obsessive theme). It offers one of the darkest, most exciting and sweeping tenor sax explorations to be found on Shepp's recordings (along with "Yasmina A Black Woman" and the now untraceable "Coral Rock" from the late sixties), intense and devoid of clichés. This Millésime [Great Vintage] of Shepp may have become somewhat less acid, less fatty in the mouth and (whether you like it or not) more reconciled with tradition than the Impulse years' venturer. But the man is at the height of his powers here, not the captive of any one idiom but at home in many, including 'free'. Most of the time the music swings heavily and irresistibly. Shepp doesn't reduce his fellow musicians to the status of bystanders here. Bunny Foy is an excellent vocalist (on "Song For Mozambique" and "I Know 'Bout The Life"), Charles Greenlee takes an exciting trombone solo on "Hipnosis", Cameron Brown on bass is outstanding throughout. ~ by Paul Cortois, Amazon.com. 

Black Saint, 120002-2, 1993
Recorded 4th-5th August, 1975 at Phonogram Studios, Milano, Italy 

Musicians:
Archie Shepp - Tenor (#1,4), Soprano (#2), Piano (#3), Vocals (#2)
Charles Greenlee - Trombone (#1,3,4), Tambourine (#1), Vocals (#2)
Dave Burrell - Piano (#1,2,4)
Cameron Brown - Double Bass
Beaver Harris - Drums (#1,3,4), Tambourine, Vocals (#2)
Bunny Foy - Maracas (#1), Vocals (#2,3)
Rafi Taha - Vocals (#2) 

Tracks:
1. Hipnosis {Grachan Moncour III} (26:19)
2. Song For Mozambique /
    Poem: A Sea Of Faces {Semenya McCord, Archie Shepp} (8:12)
3. I Know About The Life {Archie Shepp, Aishah Rahman} (5:28)
4. Lookin' For Someone To Love {Cal Massey} (9:38) 

Total Time: 49:38 

Credits:
Producer - Giacomo Pellicciotti
Recording Engineer - Pino Ciancioso
Cover Design - Ariel Soule
Liner Photos - Giuseppe Pino

Gijs Hendriks & Beaver Harris Quartet - Sound Compound (1986) [vinyl]

March '86 Beaver Harris was invited to Holland by Gijs Hendriks and Bert van Erk. They called upon him as being the ideal drummer for a concept reaching from strictly structured pieces to free collective improvisation from multiplied changes to open tonality from rock to polyrhythmics from ragtime to no time. Harris in his turn invited them for his tour in France. The Quartet was completed with Charles Loos and the combination found itself inspiring. Another phone. Bert calls me. The recording-session was done at Max Bolleman's Studio 44, Monster, Holland. The result of this is the album "Sound Compound" (yvp music 3009). We love what we are doing! ~ From ‌Liner Notes. 

YVP Music, yvp music 3009, 1988
Recorded March, 1986 at Studio 44, Monster, Holland 

Musicians:
Gijs Hendriks - Alto, Soprano, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones
Beaver Harris - Drums
Charles Loos - Piano
Bert Van Erk - Double Bass 

Tracks:
A1. In A Friendly Way (10:10)
A2. Brasilien Song (5:17)
A3. Groovin'on (7:11)
B1. Tribute To Michael (7:13)
B2. Esbres (6:27)
B3. Deeboojah (8:20) 

All Compositions by Gijs Hendriks 

Total Time: 44:38 

Credits:
Producer, Liner Notes - York von Prittwitz Und Gaffron
Executive-Producer - Konrad Baeschlin, Wolfram M. Burgert
Recording Engineer - Max Bolleman
Photography - Luc Lévêque
Cover Design - Michael Koehler

Marion Brown - Three For Shepp (1966)

An unbelievable recording! As Archie Shepp made his first album for Impulse a tribute to Coltrane, Marion Brown made his a tribute to Shepp - a wonderful lineage of avant talent in the 60s, stated boldly here, given Brown's amazing talent on the record! The album's filled with hard, soulful playing that goes out, but never too far - like Shepp in his best sixties moments - and Brown's working with a great lineup of players that includes Grachan Moncur on trombone, Beaver Harris on drums, and Stanley Cowell on piano! The tunes include three Marion Brown originals on side one, plus three tracks by Shepp on side two. "Spooks" alone will leave you loving this album for years to come – and other tracks include "West India", "Delicado", "New Blue", and "Fortunato". A brilliant blend of 60s "new thing" playing and 70s underground jazz!  © Dusty Groove, Inc.

Impulse! Records, AS-9139, 1967

Universal Music, IMPD-269, 1998

Recorded 1^st December, 1966 At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Musicians:

Marion Brown - Alto Saxophone

Grachan Moncur III - Trombone

Dave Burrell - Piano (#1-3)

Stanley Cowell - Piano (#4-6)

Sirone - Bass

Beaver Harris - Drums (#1-3)

Bobby Capp - Drums (#4-6)

Tracks:

1. New Blue {Marion Brown} (5:12)

2. Fortunato {Marion Brown} (8:55)

3. The Shadow Knows {Marion Brown} (3:05)

4. Spooks {Archie Shepp} (4:33)

5. West India {Archie Shepp} (6:25)

6. Delicado {Archie Shepp} (6:39)

Credits:

Producer [Original] - Bob Thiele

Reissue Producer - Michael Cuscuna

Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Remastering - Erick Labson (MCA Studios)

Photography - Chuck Stewart

Art Direction - Hollis A. King

Graphic Design - Isabelle Wong

Liner Notes - Frank Kofsky

Total Time: 34:49

Archie Shepp - Body And Soul (1975) [vinyl>flac]

Another great LP by Archie Shepp when working in Rome, Italy in 1975.

HORO Records, HZ 10, 1978

Recorded 28^th September (#A2,B) and 16^th October (#A1), 1975 in Rome, Italy

Musicians:

Archie Shepp - Tenor Saxophone

Cicci Santucci - Trumpet (#A2)

Charles Greenlee - Trombone (#A2,B)

Irio De Paula - Guitar (#A1,A2)

Dave Burrell - Piano (#B)

David Williams - Bass (#B)

Alessio Urso - Bass (#A2)

Beaver Harris - Drums (#B)

Afonso Vieira - Drums (#A2)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tracks:

A1. Body And Soul {Johnny Green, Robert Sour, Edward Heyman, Frank Eyton} (8:19)

A2. Tropical {Irio De Paula, Alessio Urso, Afonso Viera} (8:46)

B. Dogon {Archie Shepp} (18:23)

Credits:

Producer - Aldo Sinesio

Assistant Producer - Gianni Gualberto

Recording Engineer - Raimondo Caruana (#A1-A2), Giorgio Loviscek (#B)

Cover Art - Maria Teresa Ortolan

Photography - Isio Saba

Liner Notes - Marco Cristostomi [Italian]

Note:

#A1 from Mariamar Session released on [Horo HZ 01]

#A2,B from the same session released as Jazz A Confronto [Horo HLL 101-27]

Archie Shepp - For Losers (1968+1969) [vinyl]

One of the grooviest albums from Archie Shepp's post-new thing years for Impulse - a nicely grooving session that mixes soul-based tracks with more righteous spiritual jazz moments! The approach here is a nicely varied - a laidback, collaborative spirit that's even quite different from Shepp's work in France at the time, or even from some of his other sessions for Impulse. At one moment, Archie's playing in a gently spare and soulful mode - foreshadowing his late 70s sides - but at another, he'll be opening up with intensity, egged on by a group of well-matched players who include Woody Shaw, Grachan Moncur III, James Spaulding, and Cedar Walton. Side 2 features the extended "Un Croque Monsieur" - a modally building number with some free post-Coltrane energy, and a righteous poem from Chinalin Sharpe. Sharpe returns in a completely different spirit on "I Got It Bad" - singing the lyrics in a Billie Holiday mode alongside Shepp's solo - and Leon Thomas sings on the soul-based number "Stick Em Up", again very different than usual! Titles also include a great version of Cal Massey's "What Would It Be Without You" and the funky groover "Abstract". © Dusty Groove, Inc.

Impulse! Records, AS-9188, 1970

Recorded 9^th September, 1968 (#A1) at RCA Studios, New York City

Recorded 17^th February, 1969 (#A2) at RCA Studios, New York City

Recorded 26^th August, 1969 (#A3,A4,B) at RCA Studios, New York City

Personnel:

A1. Stick 'Em Up {Archie Shepp} (2:05)

Archie Shepp - Tenor Saxophone

Robin Kenyatta - Alto Saxophone

Grachan Moncur III - Trombone

Martin Banks - Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Andrew Bey - Piano

Mel Brown - Organ, Guitar

Bert Payne - Guitar

Albert Winston - Fender Bass

Wilton Felder - Fender Bass

Beaver Harris - Drums

Doris Troy - Vocals

Leon Thomas - Vocals

Tasha Thomas - Vocals

A2. Abstract {Archie Shepp} (4:21)

Archie Shepp - Tenor Saxophone

James Spaulding - Alto Saxophone

Charles Davis - Baritone Saxophone

Grachan Moncur III - Trombone

Jimmy Owens - Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Wally Richardson - Guitar

Dave Burrell - Organ

Bob Bushnell - Fender Bass

Bernard Purdie - Drums

A3. I Got It Bad [And That Ain't Good] {Duke Ellington, Paul Webster} (5:15)

Archie Shepp - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone

Clarence Sharpe - Alto Saxophone

Cedar Walton - Piano

Wilbur Sharpe - Bass

Joe Chambers - Drums

Chinalin Sharpe - Vocals

A4. What Would It Be Without You {Cal Massey} (4:05)

Archie Shepp - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone

Cecil Payne - Baritone Saxophone, Flute

Cedar Walton - Piano

Wilbur Sharpe - Bass

Joe Chambers - Drums

B. Un Croque Monsieur [Poem: For Losers] {Archie Shepp} (21:47)

Archie Shepp - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone

Cecil Payne - Baritone Saxophone

Clarence Sharpe - Alto Saxophone

Woody Shaw - Trumpet

Matthew Gee - Trombone

Cedar Walton - Piano

Wilbur Sharpe - Bass

Joe Chambers - Drums

Chinalin Sharpe - Vocals

Credits:

Producer - Ed Michel

Supervision - Bob Thiele (#A1,A2), Ed Michel (#A4,A4,B)

Artwork Design - George Whiteman

Photography - Chuck Stewart

Liner Notes - Archie Shepp

Tracklist:

A1. Stick 'Em Up {Archie Shepp} (2:05)

A2. Abstract {Archie Shepp} (4:21)

A3. I Got It Bad [And That Ain't Good] {Duke Ellington, Paul Webster} (5:15)

A4. What Would It Be Without You {Cal Massey} (4:06)

B. Un Croque Monsieur [Poem: For Losers] {Archie Shepp} (21:47)

At the time this record was recorded, Shepp was bouncing back and forth between Paris and New York. He also bounced between the Impulse! and BYG labels. He also bounced between styles. For BYG, his music reached to grasp the bare beginnings of black music, back to Africa and the blues. His music for Impulse! tried to embrace the contemporary sounds of R&B, with very mixed results that to this day divide his fans. This record is a transitional one. For the traditionalists, there's his shattering and amusing cover of "I've Got It Bad" performed by the usual suspects one would think to find on an Archie Shepp record, including Cecil Payne and Joe Chambers. For those enraptured by albums like Attica Blues, songs like "Stick 'Em Up" will fascinate, as Shepp's raspy tenor is joined not only by a legion of avant-garde brethren (including names like Beaver Harris and Grachan Moncur), but also by the funky wood of electric bass, guitar, and organ. Some will find those later tracks a bit hard to take. Some will even find themselves snickering. But for anyone wishing to understand the music and career of this brilliant musician, this is an undervalued piece of the puzzle. ~ Rob Ferrier, AMG.