Blasé, by Archie Shepp

Blasé

by Archie Shepp

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Andrew Jervis Keeping fingers crossed for more edgy and essential music from the Actuel catalog. Favorite track: Blasé.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve.

Original 1969 BYG album
Mastered to vinyl from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
Lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR STUDIOS
Exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre

SIDE 1
1. My Angel
2. Blasé

SIDE 2
1. There Is A Balm In Gilead
2. Sophisticated Lady
3. Touareg

Includes unlimited streaming of Blasé via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

£26 GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve & printed inner wallet.

Original 1969 BYG album
Digitally mastered from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
16-page booklet with photos & exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre

Includes unlimited streaming of Blasé via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

£13 GBP or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Comes with in-depth sleeve notes by author and music journalist Kevin Le Gendre in fully illustrated 16-page digital booklet featuring photos, original credits and more.

Purchasable with gift card

£6 GBP or more

1.	My Angel 10:10	buy track
2.	Blasé 10:20	buy track
3.	There Is A Balm In Gilead 05:56	buy track
4.	Sophisticated Lady 05:10	buy track
5.	Touareg 09:12	buy track

about

THE HEAT OF THE BLUES AND THE FIRE OF THE AVANT-GARDE
BLEND SUPERBLY ON THIS LANDMARK RECORDING

Florida-born saxophonist, composer, poet, actor and playwright Archie Shepp was one of the most articulate exponents of politicized black culture in the late 60s, a time of enormous upheaval and radical thought.

Relocating to Paris he made a number of highly influential albums, such as Blasé, that broached the essential themes of freedom and racial equality, and tapped into the bedrock of African-American music. Gospel and blues were a major part of the work, which also had a strong avant-garde sensibility. The band featured stellar vocalist Jeanne Lee and members of Art Ensemble Of Chicago. These trailblazing artists who combined jazz, poetry and radical politics made a definitive musical statement.

Blasé crosses the sacred-profane divide and liberally traveling through time and space, to create as much pre-jazz as free jazz, the tag given to Shepp for which he had much ambivalence. His artistic outlook was always broad, taking him from a graceful reprise of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady to the upbeat bustle of Touareg, a rhythmic tour de force for the Shepp-Jones-Favors trio that reflects the great inspiration Shepp drew from his appearance at the historic Pan-African festival in Algiers in July, 1969, shortly before he went into the studio to record Blasé.

Black music has always had a fascinatingly complex relationship with its own history. Echoes of the past are continually heard in the present. What was once deemed old quickly becomes new. A song from one generation can enjoy a revival in another.
If Blasé teaches us one thing it is that younger artists have always felt the spirit of their elders in heaven and on earth. As the Duke said ‘all god’s chillun got rhythm.’

“This re-mastered version of a seminal album still has great musical and emotional power...“ Kevin Le Gendre, 2022.

Original 1969 BYG album remastered from original BYG tapes.
High definition digital audio 96kHz 24bit wav.

credits

released January 27, 2023

2022 Remastered Audiophile Edition
Executive producer for this re-issue: Jean-Luc Young
Re-issue produced for release by Geoffrey Cousin
Audio restoration and mastering from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
Graphic design for this re-issue by Phil Rogers

A BYG Production
P 1969 BYG Records
C 2022 Charly Acquisitions Ltd.

An Original BYG Recording
Courtesy of Charly Acquisitions Ltd.
Licensed from LicenseMusic.com ApS.

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about

BYG Records London, UK

Pioneering French independent record label launched in 1967.

Avant-Garde / Free Jazz / Experimental / Psychedelic & Prog Rock

bygrecords.com

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