This duet date from 1990 demonstrates the deep blues feeling and technical mastery Archie Shepp has on the tenor saxophone. Comprised of four standards — “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” “Body and Soul,” “Pannonica,” and “’Round Midnight” — this set is one of Shepp’s most enjoyable ever. The reasons are myriad, but it is in large part due to the fluid, loping bass of Richard Davis. Recorded in a club in front of a live audience, Shepp digs deep into his own history of influential tenor players and comes out not wanting, but on par with them, from Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis to Sonny Rollins to John Coltrane. His playing here is big, meaty, and warm, full of subtle emotions as well as bleating cries. Davis’ sense of time and melody is nearly incredible on the title track and on “Round Midnight.” The interplay Shepp shares with him is tasty, coming from fragmentary elements in Monk’s changes; Shepp and Davis move around the lyric and cut to the heart of the tune’s color and ambiguity. It’s a haunting version and one that offers a completely different reading of the tune over 17 minutes. On “Pannonica,” Shepp’s blues feeling comes out of Ben Webster as well as Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and his soloing is full of warmth, humor, and a ragged sort of elegance. This — like Shepp’s date with Horace Parlan, Goin’ Home — is a major addition to the saxophonist’s catalog.

• Re-mastering by: Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering
• Produced by Horst Weber
• Engineer – Marvin Nunn
• Recorded October 1st, 1989, Club Cantare, Boston

• Handling Note: **Please allow an additional 5 business days for this item's shipment.**
• Released: 4/24/23
• Format Detail: LP Black
• Format: Vinyl

As described in our Privacy Policy, we collect personal information from your interactions with us and our website, including through cookies and similar technologies. We may also share this personal information with third parties, including advertising partners. We do this in order to show you ads on other websites that are more relevant to your interests and for other reasons outlined in our privacy policy.

Sharing of personal information for targeted advertising based on your interaction on different websites may be considered "sales", "sharing", or "targeted advertising" under certain U.S. state privacy laws. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to opt out of these activities. If you would like to exercise this opt-out right, please follow the instructions below.

If you visit our website with the Global Privacy Control opt-out preference signal enabled, depending on where you are, we will treat this as a request to opt-out of activity that may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information or other uses that may be considered targeted advertising for the device and browser you used to visit our website.