| Blue Ballads | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Recorded | 24–25 November, 1995 | |||
| Studio | Clinton Studio "A", New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Venus TKCV-79307 | |||
| Archie Shepp chronology | ||||
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Blue Ballads is an album by saxophonist Archie Shepp and his quartet which was recorded in New York City in 1995 and released on the Venus label. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
The AllMusic review by arwulf arwulf called it and its counterparts Black Ballads, and True Ballads "intimate studies in shared introspection...[that] document Shepp's astute exploration of the ballad form during the 1990s...Once again and in all the best ways, Shepp shines in parallel with his contemporary Pharoah Sanders. Both are skilled balladeers as well as free spirits who simply cannot be bottled or pigeonholed". [2]
Musicians
Production
Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
Theodore Curson was an American jazz trumpeter.
Marion Brown was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai. He performed on Coltrane's landmark 1965 album Ascension. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow described him as "one of the brightest and most lyrical voices of the 1960s avant-garde."
Tom McClung was an American jazz pianist and composer.
Mihály Dresch is a Hungarian saxophone player. He plays a combination of American free jazz and traditional Hungarian folk music.
Ascension is a jazz album by John Coltrane recorded in June 1965 and released in 1966. It is considered a watershed in Coltrane's work, with the albums recorded before it being more conventional in structure and the albums recorded after it being looser, free jazz inspired works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format. AllMusic called it "the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde".
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.
New Thing at Newport is a 1965 live album featuring two separate sets from that year's Newport Jazz Festival by tenor saxophonists John Coltrane and Archie Shepp. It was recorded four days after the recording session for Coltrane's album Ascension, on which Shepp appeared, and is one of several albums documenting the end stages of Coltrane's "classic quartet," which would begin to break up by the end of that year with the departure of McCoy Tyner.
The Dealer is a 1966 album by jazz drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton. It was first released by Impulse! Records (AS-9130) and has been subsequently reissued on CD with the addition of bonus tracks from Chic Chic Chico, Definitive Jazz Scene Vol. 3 and Passin' Thru. The bonus tracks feature different line-ups to that of the album, including Charles Lloyd and Gábor Szabó. The bonus track, "El Toro" is also featured on the Impulsive! Unmixed compilation.
Yasmina, a Black Woman is a jazz album by Archie Shepp, recorded in 1969 in Paris for BYG Actuel. It features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The first track, giving its title to the album, is a long free jazz piece by an 11-piece orchestra; in it, the references to Africa that Shepp had experimented with only a few weeks earlier in Algiers are to be found in the use of African percussion instruments, or the African incantations sung by Shepp himself at the beginning of the track. The other two pieces, a homage to Sonny Rollins written by trombonist Grachan Moncur III and a standard, played by a more traditional quintet and quartet respectively, are more reminiscent of the hard bop genre, although the fiery playing of the musicians, notably Shepp himself, gives them a definite avant-garde edge. It was originally issued on CD by Affinity, mastered from an incredibly noisy vinyl source and later reissued by Charly from the original master tapes.
Archie Shepp Live in San Francisco is a live album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! Records in 1966. The album contains a performance recorded by Shepp, trombonist Roswell Rudd, bassists Donald Garrett and Lewis Worrell and drummer Beaver Harris at the now defunct Both/And Club in San Francisco, CA, on February 19, 1966. The CD edition also contains an extended track that was released on LP as Three for a Quarter, One for a Dime in 1969.
For Losers is an album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! in 1970. The album contains tracks recorded from September 1968 to August 1969 by Shepp with three different ensembles. The AllMusic review by Rob Ferrier states "for anyone wishing to understand the music and career of this brilliant musician, this is an undervalued piece of the puzzle".
Archie Shepp – Bill Dixon Quartet is the debut album by saxophonist Archie Shepp and trumpeter Bill Dixon released on the Savoy label in 1962. The album features three performances by Shepp & Dixon with Don Moore and Paul Cohen and a version of Ornette Coleman's composition "Peace" with Reggie Workman and Howard McRae. The album was also rereleased in 1970 as Peace on the French BYG label, flipping the running order on side two, and on CD in 2010 as a "unauthorized European" edition on the Free Factory label, using the Savoy title but the BYG running order.
Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5 is an album released on the Savoy label originally featuring one LP side by Bill Dixon's septet and one LP side by the New York Contemporary Five featuring saxophonist Archie Shepp. The album resulted from Dixon and Shepp's contractual obligations to provide Savoy Records with a second album after the Archie Shepp - Bill Dixon Quartet (1962) but following a professional separation.
New Africa is an album by American trombonist Grachan Moncur III recorded in 1969 and released on the BYG Actuel label in the same year. It features alto saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, pianist Dave Burrell, bassist Alan Silva and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp performs on the final track.
Exhale, is the final album by saxophonist Arthur Blythe which was recorded in 2002 and released on the Savant label the following year.
Blythe Byte is an album by the saxophonist Arthur Blythe, recorded in 2001 and released on the Savant label.
Lover Man is an album by saxophonist Archie Shepp's Quartet with vocalist Annette Lowman which was recorded in Holland in 1988 and released on the Timeless label the following year.
Splashes is an album by saxophonist Archie Shepp's Quartet which was recorded in Holland in 1987 and released on the L+R label.
Sunshine is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, his third as a leader. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label later that year. On the album, Murray is joined by Arthur Jones and Roscoe Mitchell on alto saxophone, Archie Shepp and Kenneth Terroade on tenor saxophone, Lester Bowie on trumpet, Dave Burrell on piano, and Malachi Favors and Alan Silva on bass.