snobb The live Attica Blues Orchestra album opens just as the "Attica Blues" album, released more than forty years ago, sounded during its first seconds - with a deep funky bass line. Four decades changed little here - song after song, this suite sounds as if its studio version recording was just finished and Shepp moved out to tour with his big band.

Archie Shepp's "Attica Blues" studio album, recorded in 1972, was one of his best big orchestra works ever, but in the time of its release was often attacked by his old fans because it contained less of the "angry man's new thing" Archie was so known for during late 60s and early 70s. Still, being politically sharp as any of Shepp's early releases (recorded just several months after authorities ended the Attica prison uprising by massacring 43), musically it contains blues, gospel and RnB with orchestral arrangements spiced up with Shepp's unorthodox saxophone soloing.

Four decades later, Shepp formed the "Attica Blues Orchestra" with some veterans (pianist and vocalist Amina Claudina Myers, Art Ensemble of Chicgo percussionist Famoudou Don Moye, etc) and a big team of young French brass and strings musicians. The live "Attica Blues" version was recorded in 2012 and 2013 during concerts in France and sounds surprisingly close to its original version after all these decades. Shepp's vocals are strong and new singer Cécile McLorin-Salvant is excellent, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire is another one of this album's heroes.

Shepp doesn't open new horizons with this album, but he adds a second life to great and under-valued material, which sounds more mature and surprisingly fresh even today. Not pure jazz, and really different from the "Magic Of Ju-Ju", this album perfectly illustrates a different side of Shepp's musical personality, and it's a great one.

kev rowland On September 9th 1971 a riot broke out in Attica Prison. Five days later the riot was over, and thirty-nine people were left dead – killed by the bullets from the police and National Guard. In January the following year Archie released ‘Attica Blues’ as a tribute, combining many different styles into a big jazz orchestra. Now, more than forty years later, he has revisited this album with the Archie Shepp Attica Blues Orchestra, and this live album was recorded over three different dates in 2012 and 2013. Archie has brought together a group of musicians who sound as if they have just recorded the original and are now taking it on the road. There is a power and grace with this recording that can sometimes be missing from those who want to show just how clever they are, with sometimes just a few playing and at others the complete band as they swing and move from one style to another, encompassing funk, gospel, and so many others, although always at the heart is jazz and blues.

The amount of musicians involved is considerable, and include Archie Shepp: tenor and soprano saxophones, voice; Amina Claudine Myers: piano, voice; Tom McClung: piano; Famoudou Don Moye: drums, congas; Reggie Washington: bass; Darryl Hall: bass (5); Pierre Durand: guitar; Stéphane Belmondo: trumpet; Izidor Leitinger: trumpet; Christophe Leloil: trumpet; Olivier Miconi: trumpet; Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet (5); Sébastien Llado: trombone; Simon Sieger: trombone; Romain Morello: trombone; Michaël Ballue: trombone; Raphaël Imbert: alto saxophone; Olivier Chaussade: alto saxophone; François Théberge: tenor saxophone; Virgile Lefebvre: tenor saxophone; Jean-Philippe Scali: baritone saxophone; Manon Tenoudji: violin; Steve Duong: violin; Antoine Carlier: viola; Louise Rosbach: cello; Marion Rampal: voice; Cécile McLorin Salvant: voice. But, although there are times when the sound is of a jazz orchestra in a large hall there are others when it is far more intimate, just a few players on a small stage in a smoky backroom somewhere.

This certainly doesn’t sound as if it is a recording of today (apart from the sonic quality), but rather this is of a time gone by, and is one that I very much enjoyed experiencing.