Attica Blues (Dig) [Original recording remastered]

Archie Shepp | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 11, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1972
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B00007KMSO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,953 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Throw away your preconceptions of Mr. Shepp!, June 3, 2006

By 

Josh Z. Bonder "a sound painter" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Attica Blues (Dig) (Audio CD)

I purchased this album after having acquainted myself with albums like "Mama's Too Tight", "Live at Newport", and "The Way Ahead". Needless to say, it is quite unlike any of those albums. This was a bit troubling at first, but I must admit that once I considered this album as an entity unto itself, it amazed me! This is a very likeable and listenable album, and features the same sort of emotional purity of expression found on Shepp's more "out" blowing albums: That purity is captured here through plaintive lyricism, a heady mix of musical styles, and quaint use of dramatic effects (screamed choruses in the opening track, naively pure child singing on the closer, snippets of poetry and yearning lyrics). This album is fascinating in that it succeeds (imho) at capturing the emotional openness and purity of the free jazz idiom, by totally different means. Appraised on it's own terms, this is a classic.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars troubled times, May 4, 2007

By 

Swing King (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Attica Blues (Dig) (Audio CD)

This 1972 recording for Verve is one of Archie Shepp's more theatrical releases, a statement as to what is in store by itself. Shepp, fuming over the recent Attica Prison atrocity of his day, unleashes horns from hell on this wrathful musical venture. And Shepp is not alone, accompanied by a humungous assembly of musicians helping to knit the intricate musical web that is this album. "Attica Blues" is definitely a group mission and was not intended to just revolve around Shepp's horn, one of the hallmarks of much of Shepp's body of work.

Funky soul driven numbers make up this brave work, along with some rather poetic vocal arrangements and atypical timing in parts. This album is a distinctively Archie Shepp project, from the kicking off of the fervent title track on through to the peculiar vocals appearing on the final track, "Quiet Down". "Attica Blues" was both a cultural and artistic snapshot of the racial woes of the early 1970s, a beautiful reminder of a painful past. Buy this one today!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ABSOLUTE KILLER, September 17, 2009

By 

David P. Weber (North Fremantle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Attica Blues (Dig) (Audio CD)

This is one of the best albums of its time. The title track is one of the most ferocious funk tunes ever recorded. Shepp gathers many and varied friends to help him out on a statement of musical affirmation which alternates from jazz-funk grooves to something a little freer and experimental. The striking cover and the cool photos-- original notes are here in their entirety-- add to an already wholesome package. A powerful LP.