ARCHIE SHEPP - Attica Blues (1972-2003) RM | Serie: LP Reproduction | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Refining his large-ensemble experiments of 1971, Attica Blues is one of Archie Shepp's most significant post-'60s statements, recorded just several months after authorities ended the Attica prison uprising by massacring 43 inmates and hostages. Perhaps because Shepp's musical interests were changing, Attica Blues isn't the all-out blast of rage one might expect; instead, it's a richly arranged album of mournful, quietly agonized blues and Ellingtonian swing, mixed with a couple of storming funk burners. Of course, Shepp doesn't quite play it straight, bringing his avant-garde sensibilities to both vintage big band and contemporary funk, with little regard for the boundaries separating them all. His soloing on tenor and soprano is typically sharp-edged and modal, and his nasal, slicing tone on soprano is featured quite heavily. The stylishness of the slow numbers is undercut with quivering, faintly unsettling dissonances, and the up-tempo funk cuts recall the way Sly Stone's arrangements ping-ponged many different elements off each other in a gleeful organized chaos. That's especially true on the gospel-inflected title song, a monster of a groove that later became a hit on the acid jazz revival circuit (and stands up to anything recorded by straight-up funk bands of the era). In the same vein, "Blues for Brother George Jackson" sounds like an edgier Isaac Hayes-style blaxploitation soundtrack cut. Vocal ballads are plentiful, and Joe Lee Wilson ("Steam," a song Shepp would return to often) and Carl Hall (aka Henry Hull) both acquit themselves well; more debatable are the poetic recitations and the choice of flügelhornist/composer Cal Massey's young daughter Waheeda to sing "Quiet Dawn" (although Waheeda's almost-there intonation is effectively creepy). Still, in the end, Attica Blues is one of Shepp's most successful large-group projects, because his skillful handling of so many different styles of black music produces such tremendously groovy results. Steve Huey
Tracklist :
1     Attica Blues 4'47
(W.G. Harris / Archie Shepp)    
Alto Saxophone – Marion Brownburr
Backing Vocals – Albertine Robinson, Joshie Armstead
Bass [Fender] – Jerry Jemmott
Lead Vocals – Henry Hull
2     Invocation: Attica Blues 0'19
(W.G. Harris)    
Narrator – William Kunstler
3     Steam, Pt. 1 5'07
(Archie Shepp)
Electric Piano – Dave Burrell
Flute [Bamboo] – Marion Brown
Lyrics By – Archie Shepp
Vocals – Joe Lee Wilson    

4     Invocation to Mr. Parker 3'16
(Bart Gray / Archie Shepp)    
Flute – Marion Brown
Narrator, Other [Text] – Bartholomew Gray
5     Steam, Pt. 2 5'10
(Archie Shepp)    
Electric Piano – Dave Burrell
Flute [Bamboo] – Marion Brown
Lyrics By – Archie Shepp
Vocals – Joe Lee Wilson
6     Blues for Brother George Jackson 4'00
(Archie Shepp)    
Alto Saxophone – Marion Brown
7     Invocation: Ballad for a Child 0'29
(W.G. Harris)    
Narrator – William Kunstler
8     Ballad for a Child 3'36
(W.G. Harris / Archie Shepp)    
Vocals – Henry Hull
9     Goodbye Sweet Pops 4'22
(Cal Massey)
Conductor – Romulus Franceschini
Drums – Billy Higgins
Music By – Cal Massey
10     Quiet Dawn 6'12
(Cal Massey)
Conductor – Romulus Franceschini
Drums – Billy Higgins
Flugelhorn, Music By, Lyrics By – Cal Massey
Vocals – Waheeda Massey
Credits
Alto Saxophone – Clarence White (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Baritone Saxophone – James Ware (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Bass – Jimmy Garrison (pistas: 3, 4, 5, 9, 10)
Bass [Fender] – Roland Wilson (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8)
Cello – Calo Scott (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10), Ronald Lipscomb (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10)
Cornet – Clifford Thornton (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Drums – Beaver Harris (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8)
Euphonium – Hakim Jami (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Guitar – Cornell Dupree (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 8)
Lyrics By – William G. Harris (pistas: 1 to 8)
Music By – Archie Shepp (pistas: 1 to 8)
Percussion – Juma Sutan (pistas: 1, 6, 10), Marion Brown (pistas: 3, 4, 5), Nene DeFense (pistas: 1, 6, 10), Ollie Anderson (pistas: 1, 6, 10)
Piano – Walter Davis Jr. (pistas: 6, 8, 9, 10)
Soprano Saxophone – Archie Shepp (pistas: 3, 5, 9)
Tenor Saxophone – Archie Shepp (pistas: 1, 6, 8, 10), Billy Robinson (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10), Roland Alexander (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Trombone – Charles Greenlee (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10), Charles Stephens (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10), Kiane Zawadi (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Trumpet – Charles McGhee (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10), Michael Ridley (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10), Roy Burrowes (pistas: 1, 6, 9, 10)
Violin – John Blake (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10), Leroy Jenkins (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10), Shankar (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10)