Tracklist :
1 Gratitude 7:52
Don Pullen
2 Resting On The Road 10:30
Don Pullen
3 Out Of A Storm 8:38
D.D. Jackson
4 El Matador 4:32
Don Pullen
5 Easy Alice 8:10
D.D. Jackson
6 Long Goodbye 8:00
Lawrence "Butch" Morris
7 Common Ground 7:54
Don Pullen
Credits :
Bass – Santi Debriano
Drums – J.T. Lewis
Piano – D.D. Jackson
Tenor Saxophone – David Murray
Transcription By – D.D. Jackson
Tracklist :
1 Panamá Libre 4'07
Danilo Pérez
2 Serenata 2'42
Carlos Franzetti
3 Alfonsina y el Mar 7'49
Félix Luna / Ariel Ramírez
4 Solo Contigo Basta 5'24
Piloto / Vera
5 Irremediablemente Solo 8'24
Avelino Muñoz
6 Body and Soul 6'57
Frank Eyton / Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Robert Sour
7 Claudio 3'33
Danilo Pérez
8 Time on My Hands 10'01
Harold Adamson / Mack Gordon / Vincent Youmans
9 Friday Morning 4'50
Danilo Pérez
10 Skylark 3'32
Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer
Credits :
Bass – Santi Debriano
Drums – Jack DeJohnette
Piano – Danilo Perez
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Joe Lovano
Vocals – Ruben Blades
Recorded in 1981 in a quartet setting featuring the great drummer John Betsch, bassist Santi Debriano, and pianist Ken Werner, I Know About the Life doesn't so much explore these standards as re-contextualize them in the canon. Opening with Thelonious Monk's "Well You Needn't," Shepp does to Monk's tune what Monk did regularly with pop tunes: he smears the melody all around a different harmonic context, adds a boatload of blues feel and a smattering of soul. His double times with Betsch in the middle of the cut are stunning and humorous, and in spite of his solo honks and squeals, he never loses sight of Monk's tune. On his own "I Know About the Life," one can hear Lockjaw Davis, Ben Webster, and John Coltrane in his playing as Shepp builds on the deep soul and blues roots of his 1970s records like Cry of My People. The other two cuts here, a steaming muscular and frenetic read of Coltrane's "Giant Steps," and a nearly heartbreaking version of "'Round Midnight," reveal that the tradition for Shepp was not as it was for the coming reign of neo-trad revisionists who would re-imagine it in their own images: for Shepp here, as on many of his 1980s recordings (check "I Feel Like Going Home" with Horace Parlan), the tradition was an open-ended conversation to be annotated in the ballroom and on the back porch anytime one wished to step into it. Shepp's perception of the language of Ellington was -- and remains -- no less profound than Ellington's understanding of the language of Mingus, or Mingus' of Eric Dolphy's. The whispering sweetness tinged with crackling blues feel in "'Round Midnight" is one of the most important reads of this tune because it gives back to Monk what so many generic players tried to take away: the blood that lies at the heart of the ballad. Hearing Shepp in this light makes any serious jazz fan completely reconsider his contribution after the 1970s.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1 Well You Needn't 8:50
Written-By – Thelonious Monk
2 I Know About The Life 13:51
Written-By – Archie Shepp
3 Giant Steps 8:08
Written-By – John Coltrane
4 Round Midnight 12:11
Written-By – Thelonious Monk
Credits :
Double Bass – Santie Debriano
Drums – John Betsch
Piano – Ken Werner
Tenor Saxophone – Archie Shepp
Tracklist :
1 Blues For Bechet 6:29
Written By – Archie Shepp
2 Petite Fleur 13:28
Written By – Sidney Bechet
3 Passeport To Paradise 10:04
Written By – Sidney Bechet
4 My Man 4:13
Written By – Albert Willemetz, Channing Pollock, Jacques Charles, Maurice Yvain
5 Premier Bal 10:43
Written By – Sidney Bechet
Credits :
Bass – Santi Debriano
Drums – John Betsch
Flute – Archie Shepp (pistas: 2)
Piano – Archie Shepp (pistas: 1), Charles Eubanks
Soprano Saxophone – Archie Shepp
Trumpet – Charles McGhee
Vocals – Michelle Wiley (pistas: 1, 4)
This is one of Archie Shepp's more erratic sets. On the 15 1/2 minute "Mama Rose," the great tenor (who is joined by pianist Ken Werner, bassist Santi Debriano and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith) unfortunately plays his out-of-tune soprano and takes an eccentric vocal. Additionally, Werner's brief "Soul Song" tends to wander without much direction. Much better is the 18 1/2 minute "Geechee," a lengthy workout for Shepp's emotional tenor, but due to this release's weak first half, it can be safely passed by. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1 Mama Rose 15'17
Horace Parlan / Archie Shepp
2 Soul Song 4'00
Archie Shepp
3 Geechee 18'33
Archie Shepp
4 My Romance 7'17
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
Credits
Bass – Santi DeBriano
Drums – Marvin "Smitty" Smith
Piano – Kenny Werner
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Vocals – Archie Shepp
Esbjörn Svensson has stood not only once on stage in Montreux. He was already a guest in the summer of 1998 at the jazz festival on Lake Gen...
