Archie Shepp And Roswell Rudd - Live In New York

Styles: Saxophone And Trombone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:01
Size: 174,2 MB
Art: Front

( 2:11)  1. Keep Your Heart Right
( 8:23)  2. Acute Motelitis
( 7:33)  3. Steam
( 8:27)  4. Pazuzu
( 5:46)  5. We Are The Blues
( 9:16)  6. Ujamma
( 5:46)  7. Bamako
(11:57)  8. Slide By Slide
( 3:59)  9. Deja Vu
(10:38) 10. Hope No 2

The year was 1994. The venue: the Eilat Red Sea Jazz Festival. Hundreds of sweltering Jazz aficionados waited in a huge converted cargo shed to witness reedman Archie Shepp and his quartet a marquee coup for the Israeli festival. When Shepp swaggered onto the stage, the more discerning members of the audience (including this reviewer) could scarcely conceal their disappointment. Here was the 1960s hero of radical Jazz conservatively bedecked in two–piece gray suit and tie. He might as well have emerged from Wall Street. More disconcerting was that this aging maestro and his group played mostly standards, and Shepp’s vocals were not always up to the task. With a lineup that included a shaky–looking but strong–sounding Horace Parlan on piano, one couldn’t help but be dismayed. Fast forward to 2000.   On Roswell Rudd and Archie Shepp Live in New York, Shepp (playing tenor sax, piano and crooning) is in top avant-garde form in the company of trombone titans Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur III, percussionist extraordinaire Andrew Cyrille and ever surprising bassist Reggie Workman. The CD sizzles with excitement. The one downer  as odd as a seven–dollar bill  is the inclusion of Amiri Baraka (“We Are the Blues”) with a hideously boring poem about the blues. 

One of the most endearing aspects of this collaboration  recorded live at the Big Apple’s Jazz Standard last September is the seamless way in which Rudd and Shepp move between the orbits of furious abandon (“Acute Motelitis”) and engagingly mellow pieces (“Steam,” “Déjà Vu”). The Paris–based saxophonist’s deft and delicate piano playing and crooning is a major highlight of this disc. Shepp shines on saxophone too, with his trademark vibrato and lyrically sculpured phrasing. The influence of Herbie Nichols and Elmo Hope overwhelms but never threatens to suffocate the proceedings. Tunes like “Acute Motelitis,” “Ujamma” and “Hope No. 2” bear out this tendency. Located somewhere between the stylings of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, these numbers bristle with their own unique harmonic sense. 

Reggie Workman has been such a ubiquitous presence in Jazz circles for nearly fifty years that one could say he “hides in plain sight.” From straight-ahead blues to avant-garde situations, this creative bassist anchors this particular live session with great flair. Ditto Andrew Cyrille who has been grossly overlooked in terms of his contribution to the percussive lexicon. His sheer prowess in punctuating and parsing the pulse of each of the compositions on Live in New York is breathtaking. For the more discerning Jazz aficionado, this new Rudd / Shepp collaboration will not disappoint. ~ John Stevenson https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-in-new-york-roswell-rudd-universal-music-group-review-by-john-stevenson.php

Personnel: Archie Shepp, tenor saxophone, vocals, piano; Roswell Rudd, trombone; Grachan Moncur III, trombone; Reggie Workman, bass; Andrew Cyrille, drums; Amiri Baraka, poetry.

Live In New York

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Archie Shepp - Live In San Francisco

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:02
Size: 172,8 MB
Art: Front

( 1:18)  1. Keep Your Heart Right
( 7:31)  2. The Lady Sings The Blues
( 5:37)  3. Sylvia
( 2:56)  4. The Wedding
(10:25)  5. Wherever June Bugs Go
( 6:17)  6. In A Sentimental Mood
( 7:59)  7. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
(32:54)  8. Three For A Quarter, One For A Dime

A great counterpart to some of Archie Shepp's studio albums for Impulse a live date recorded in San Francisco, with a slightly freer, sharper edge! The sound is almost free at times, but always with that strong sense of focus that Archie brought to his brilliant work of the time and the group's a well-honed ensemble who really understand each others motivations and inspirations Roswell Rudd on trombone, Donald Garrett and Lewis Worrell on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums all almost working at an ESP level together. Shepp plays a bit of piano on the record in sharply angular tones that are almost more modern than his tenor and titles include "The Wedding", "Wherever June Bugs Go", and "Keep Your Heart Right". https://www.dustygroove.com/item/742818

Personnel: Archie Shepp (tenor saxophone, piano); Roswell Rudd (trombone); Donald Garrett, Lewis Worrell (bass); Beaver Harris (drums).

Live In San Francisco

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Roswell Rudd & Heather Masse - August Love Song

Size: 104,5 MB
Time: 45:28
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Modern Jazz, Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Social Call (3:36)
02. Love Song For August (5:08)
03. I'm Going Sane (One Day At A Time) (5:58)
04. Mood Indigo (4:43)
05. Winter Blues (4:07)
06. Blackstrap Molasses - Old Devil Moon (5:59)
07. Con Alma (4:09)
08. Open House (4:04)
09. Tova And Kyla Rain (2:49)
10. Love Is Here To Stay (4:50)

How unlikely is the pairing of youthful and exuberant vocalist like Heather Masse and the free jazz deity of one Roswell Rudd? It is almost the punchline for a punny joke. Yet, we have August Love Song and what can we make of it?

First, the cover art recalls the movie poster of Summer of '42 (Warner Brothers, 1971) crossed with Love Story (Paramount, 1970). But this love story is one of music...ageless, constant, basic, organic. Both a sepia nostalgia and a fresh, post-modern veneer are evident in these ten well-crafted pieces. They are brilliant contradictions that perfectly complement one another.

Rudd and Masse met one another about four years while appearing on A Prairie Home Companion where Masse has appeared many times, both as a solo ace and as a member of the Wailin' Jennys, a popular folk group consisting of alto Masse, with soprano Ruth Moody and mezzo Nicky Mehta (the current lineup). Masse has made two recordings with the Wailin' Jennys and two solo recordings, her last being the well-received Lock My Heart (Red House Records, 2015) made with pianist Dick Hyman. Of that recording, All About Jazz critic Dan Bilawsky said: ..."Masse may or may not be back on the folk side of the fence but, if she has indeed flown on, she'll hopefully come back to visit jazz on occasion; a songbird with her talents, after all, should be free to fly wherever she pleases." This spirit is in no way diminished on August Love Song.

Behold this curious chemistry where Rudd and Masse prod and feed off one another. Masse emulates Rudd with the most spirited scat and vocalese of recent memory and Rudd digs deep, way past his freedom days, back to when Kid Ory transmogrified into Tricky Sam Nanton crossed with Al Grey on their way to the Eminent JJ Johnson. This chemistry, alchemy really, blooms from the small confines of a quitar-bass rhythm section supporting the two principals. This gives the music a '20s and '30s Hot Club aroma, but that aroma is pine- needle sharp with gin...the good stuff, too. Masse grows languid from Rudd's almost boozy blowing, characteristically in the lower register.

Perfect is Masse and Rudd's command of Gigi Gryce's "Socal Call" as realized by Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Betty Carter. She slows her crack phrasing to the rheology of Molasses. The two build a monument worthy of being strolled through with the diptych made up of "I'm Going Sane (One Day at a Time)" and "Mood Indigo," the latter introduced by Rudd with a growling "It Don't Mean a Thing." The pair duet on the Ellington piece and the results are that of a smoky diamond awaiting proper discovery. Masse reaches deep herself and finds the blues and she is not shy in sharing them with us. A musical center of beautifully titrated honey and Quaaludes languidness.

But we have yet to hear the best. The medley of "Blackstrap Molasses" and "That Old Devil Moon" look clean and clear as water from the old home place well, except for the razor bite of the moonshine when you hear it. This is music that makes you wish you could live forever just to hear more of it. Rudd and Masse close with a sweetly quaint "Our Live is Here to Stay," capping as fine a recording as I believe I can bear. ~Michael C. Bailey

Personnel: Heather Masse: vocals; Roswell Rudd: trombone; Rolf Sturm: guitars; Mark Helias: bass.

August Love Song

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