Archie Shepp Mama Too Tight
Released 1966
Recorded August 19, 1966
Label Impulse!
Format:[email protected]
Mama Too Tight was the fourth and most radical of the albums Archie Shepp recorded for Impulse in the sixties. Overseeing an octet made up of 2 trombones, tuba, clarinet, trumpet, bass and drums as well as his own tenor, Shepp pays homage to Duke Ellington and James Brown in his witty, colorful writing for brass/reeds and funky ensemble work (cf. the title track.) The extended free-form opening of the massive side-long "A Portrait Of Robert Thompson (As A Young Man)" leaves a slightly different impression however. Here Shepp enters the raucous free space previously occupied by Albert Ayler and Coltrane's ASCENSION.
The relentless hard blowing can be overwhelming so it is a relief when the gentler strains of Ellington's "Prelude To A Kiss" enter, followed by a comical but sharp version of "The Break Strain-King Cotton" march. Shepp had the best sense of humor of any modern jazz player and it is displayed brilliantly in the shifts and juxtapositions of "Robert Thompson" and the closing "Basheer," a slightly less ambitious tone poem. The 20 bit re-mastering job allows Shepp's breathy, gritty tenor saxophone work to shine.
Tracklist
1 "A Portrait Of Robert Thompson:
A. Prelude to a Kiss
B. The Break Strain-King Cotton
C. Dem Basses" - 18:57
2 "Mama Too Tight" - 5:25
3 "Theme for Ernie"- 3:21
4 "Basheer" - 10:38
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 19, 1966
Personnel
Archie Shepp: tenor saxophone
Tommy Turrentine: trumpet
Grachan Moncur III: trombone
Roswell Rudd: trombone
Howard Johnson: tuba
Perry Robinson: clarinet
Charlie Haden: bass
Beaver Harris: drums
