Archie Shepp: Four For Trane To Live Newport 1965 Revisited

Ezz-thetics have already released several '60s albums featuring Archie Shepp which were recorded before or after the music on Four For Trane to Live Newport 1965 Revisited. These have included the New York Contemporary Five's Copenhagen 1963 Revisited plus Shepp's Fire Music To Mama Too Tight Revisited, recorded in 1965 and 1966, and Blasé and Yasmina Revisited, recorded in 1969.

All of which makes the current release very welcome as it includes Shepp's first studio recording as sole leader, Four for Trane, on which he played interpretations of four John Coltrane compositions, and also Shepp's half of New Thing at Newport, the 1965 live album which he shared with Coltrane; although Coltrane himself is not heard playing here, his influence on the entire album is palpable.

The four Coltrane pieces which Shepp chose to record were "Syeeda's Flute Song," "Cousin Mary" and "Naima" from Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960) and "Mr. Syms" from Coltrane Plays the Blues (Atlantic, 1962). Unlike the original Coltrane quartet, Shepp's sextet includes no piano but does have tenor and alto saxophones, trombone and flugelhorn, thus making his new interpretations much looser and freer than the originals, an indication of the freedom that jazz had enjoyed since the turn of the '60s; it is no coincidence that the title of Shepp's album Fire Music (Impulse, 1965) is often used as a synonym for "free jazz." Coltrane himself was obviously impressed with Shepp's versions as, in December 1964, he recruited him and second bassist Art Davis to record a sextet version of A Love Supreme; the results were not fully released until they formed part of the three-disc A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters (Impulse, 2015) and could be truly appreciated.

Conveniently, Four for Trane concludes with the bizarrely titled Shepp composition "Rufus (Swung, His Face At Last To The Wind, Then His Neck Snapped)" played by the same sextet, while Live Newport 1965 opens with the same piece played live by the quartet of Shepp on tenor sax, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Barre Philips on bass and Joe Chambers on drums. The juxtaposition of the two versions highlights the differences between the albums, with the quartet being sparser and Shepp the lone soloist while the inclusion of Hutcherson's ethereal vibes makes the soundscape more tranquil, as he had done previously on Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch (Blue Note, 1964). "Le Matin des Noir" is a breath-taking vibes feature which practically steals the show. All five of the live tracks are Shepp compositions, with one—"Scag"---being a recitation of a poem by Shepp which confronts drug abuse in the ghetto. The other tracks benefit from being spacious and uncluttered so they showcase the talents of all four quartet members.

Anyone who has ever appreciated Shepp's playing is sure to enjoy both albums which comprise this release. Anyone who has not yet begun exploring Shepp's work can safely start here, safe in the knowledge that they'll probably be bowled over by it.