Archie Shepp – Attica Blues (LP, Universal)

1-LP, 180g, Pallas pressing, printed inner sleeve replicating original gatefold content / This Impulse! classic, originally released in 1972, is one of the saxophonists most lasting and enduring works. With its powerful avant-garde tracks and strong political messages, the album is one of Shepp’s most successful large-group projects. Rolling Stone wrote that it is “not just a masterpiece of protest: […] it is more a political/religious experience, an appeal to higher human consciousness to, for God’s sake, help us out of this torment.” Musicians: Archie Shepp – saxophone / Marion Brown – saxophone, flute, percussion / Clifford Thornton – cornet / Roy Burrows, Charles McGhee, Michael Ridley – trumpet / Charles Greenlee, Charles Stephens, Kiane Zawadi – trombone / Cal Massey – fluegelhorn / Hakim Jami – euphonium / Clarence White, Roland Alexander, Billy Robinson, James Ware – saxophone / Walter Davis, Jr. – electric piano, piano / Dave Burrell – electric piano / Cornell Dupree guitar / Roland Wilson, Gerald Jemmott – Fender bass / Jimmy Garrison bass / Billy Higgins, Beaver Harris drums / Ollie Anderson, Nene DeFense, Juma Sultan percussion / Henry Hull, Joe Lee Wilson, Waheeda Massey vocals / Joshie Armstead, Albertine Robertson – backing vocals / William Kunstler, Bartholomew Gray – narration / String section