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Archie Shepp: The Way Ahead, Kwanza, The Magic of Ju-ju Revisited
by Stefano Merighi
In questa compilation dedicata ad un periodo importante di Archie Shepp, si dovrebbe iniziare l'ascolto dalla fine. Infatti, i quasi venti minuti di “The Magic of Ju-Ju," posti in chiusura del CD, sono dell'aprile 1967; il resto del repertorio è invece stato inciso nel biennio successivo. Pur non riuscendo a comprendere il criterio con cui si assemblano questi cataloghi sonori, è indubbiamente utile comparare alcuni lavori vicini eppure assai differenti di un autore come Shepp, all'epoca sugli scudi ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra at Inter-Media Arts, 1991
by Howard Mandel
On April 10, 1991, the night of this concert at Inter-Media Art Center in Huntington, Long Island, Sun Ra was near the apogee of his earthly transit. Having led his transformative iterations of his Arkestra around the globe for an unlikely if not unimaginable four decades, the visionary composer, keyboardist, conceptualist and cosmologist was, even though in recovery from a stroke, at the peak of his powers, two years from breaking free of his local orbit entirely. He ...
Continue ReadingArchie Shepp: The Way Ahead, Kwanza, The Magic Of Ju-Ju Revisited
by Mark Corroto
Allow me to expand on a much restated quote from Albert Ayler: “Coltrane was The Father, Pharoah was The Son, and I was... The Holy Ghost." If we remain with the Christian iconography, that makes Archie Shepp, Simon Peter, or the Apostle Peter whom Jesus called the rock upon which he built his church. Christened by his tenure in the early 1960s with Cecil Taylor, Shepp was baptized into what we now call a modernist approach. In meeting Coltrane, a ...
Continue ReadingArchie Shepp: The Way Ahead, Kwanza, The Magic Of Ju-ju Revisited
by Chris May
2023 kicks off with the bangingest back-in-the-day bang from the Swiss-based ezz-thetics label, whose carefully curated and remastered 1960s sessions from Archie Shepp, Horace Silver, John Coltrane and Albert Ayler lit up the reissue calendar in 2022. Shepp's The Way Ahead, Kwanza, The Magic Of Ju-ju Revisited comes in at a whisker over seventy-nine minutes and includes all four tracks from The Way Ahead (Impulse!, 1968), two tracks from Kwanza (Impulse!, recorded 1969, released 1974) and the ...
Continue ReadingCharles Davis: For The Love Of Lori
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Charles Davis' paean to his late wife, For the Love of Lori, is more of a musical celebration of her spirit than a requiem. Sure, there are moments of intense sorrow and nostalgic melancholy but they are enveloped in positive, swinging creativity. On “What'll I Do?" for instance, Davis' wistful soliloquy is filled with reserved anguish and enveloped with elegant lyricism. Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli's muted, soothing tone marks his intricate improvisation while trombonist Steve Davis' soft, resonant ...
Continue ReadingCharles Davis: For The Love Of Lori
by Dan Bilawsky
Coping with loss is never easy. Some are completely defeated by the death of a loved one, choosing to retreat into isolation. Others prefer to reflect, celebrate the life that was lived, and play on. Saxophonist Charles Davis is part of the latter group. Davis lost his wife--Lori Samet-Davis--in April of 2012, but he didn't let that loss break his will to create. This album, a straight ahead display of artistic expression and affection, is given up in tribute to ...
Continue ReadingCharles Davis: In the Air
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Saxophonist Charles Davis has spent the past few decades making history with such luminaries as Billie Holiday, Kenny Dorham, Abdullah Ibrahim, Clifford Jordan, Dinah Washington and Freddie Hubbard. Although Davis might be best known as one of the baritone players in the Sun Ra Arkestra, his many recordings and excellent performances outside of the Arkestral context have helped to establish him as a truly great musician. At 75, an age where other players might be slowing down a bit, Davis ...
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