Attica Blues (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Attica Blues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Recorded | January 24–26, 1972 | |||
| Studio | A&R Recording, New York | |||
| Genre | Jazz, post-bop, avant-garde jazz, big band, jazz poetry, funk | |||
| Label | Impulse! AS-9222 | |||
| Producer | Ed Michel | |||
| Archie Shepp chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| DownBeat |  [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [3] |
| Pitchfork | 9.3/10[4] |
| Rolling Stone | favorable[5] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
Attica Blues is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp. Originally released in 1972 on the Impulse! label, the album title refers to the Attica Prison riots.[7]
The AllMusic review by Steve Huey states: "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".[8] Stephen Davis of Rolling Stone said that it was "not just a masterpiece of protest: [...] it is more a politico/religious experience, an appeal to higher human consciousness to, for God's sake, help us out of this torment."[5]
Track listing
- All compositions by Archie Shepp, except as indicated
- "Attica Blues" (lyrics by Beaver Harris) – 4:49
- "Invocation: Attica Blues" (Harris) – 0:18
- "Steam, Part 1" – 5:08
- "Invocation to Mr. Parker" (lyrics by Bart Gray) – 3:17
- "Steam, Part 2" – 5:10
- "Blues for Brother George Jackson" – 4:00
- "Invocation: Ballad for a Child" (Harris) – 0:30
- "Ballad for a Child" (lyrics by Harris) – 3:37
- "Good-Bye Sweet Pops" (Cal Massey) – 4:23
- "Quiet Dawn" (Massey) – 6:12
- Recorded at A&R Recording, NYC, January 24–26, 1972 (Track timings slightly differ from one issue to another, due to merging tracks.)
