Attica Blues

by Archie Shepp

Overview

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 fluegelhornist/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

Product Details

Release Date:	08/02/2019
Label:	Mr. Bongo
UPC:	7119691260273
Rank:	12125

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Archie Shepp   Primary Artist,Soloist,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
William Kunstler   Primary Artist
Romulus Franceschini   Primary Artist,Vocals,Conductor
Walter Davis, Jr.   Guest Artist,Piano (Electric)
Cornell Dupree   Guest Artist,Guitar
Dave Burrell   Guest Artist,Piano (Electric)
Leroy Jenkins   Guest Artist,Violin
Marion Brown   Guest Artist,Flute,Soloist,Percussion,Sax (Alto),Bamboo Flute
John Blake   Guest Artist,Violin
Cal Massey   Guest Artist,Soloist,Flugelhorn
Ronald Lipscomb   Viola,Cello
Michael Ridley   Trumpet
Juma Sultan   Percussion
Billy Robinson   Sax (Tenor)
Nene DeFense   Percussion
Lakshminarayana Shankar   Violin
Roland Wilson   Bass,Guitar (Bass),Bass (Electric)
Albertine Robinson   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Gerald Jemmott   Bass,Soloist
Charles Stephens   Soloist,Trombone
Kiane Zawadi   Soloist,Trombone
Billy Higgins   Drums
Bill Robinson   Sax (Tenor)
Clifford Thornton   Cornet
Clarence White   Sax (Alto)
Joe Lee Wilson   Vocals
Beaver Harris   Drums
Charles "Majeed" Greenlee   Trombone
Joshie Armstead   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Roy Burrowes   Soloist,Trumpet
Walter Davis   Piano,Piano (Electric)
Roland Alexander   Soloist,Sax (Tenor)
Jimmy Garrison   Bass
Waheeda Massey   Vocals
Calo Scott   Cello,Viola
Charles McGhee   Soloist,Trumpet
Henry Hull   Vocals
Hakim Jami   Euphonium
James Ware   Sax (Baritone)
Ollie Anderson   Percussion

Technical Credits

W.G. Harris   Composer
Bart Gray   Composer
Sherniece Smith   Reissue Art Director
Clyde Gilliam   Design
Bryan Koniarz   Reissue Producer
Suha Gur   Reissue Mastering
Beaver Harris   Composer
Ed Michel   Producer,Original Recording Producer
Mark Smith   Reissue Assistant Producer
Archie Shepp   Composer
Tony May   Engineer
Ken Druker   Executive Producer
Cal Massey   Composer
Charles Stewart   Photography
Bazzi Bartholomew Gray   Text,Narrator
Hollis King   Reissue Art Director