At one time, tenor saxist Archie Shepp was one of the poster children for Impulse! Records, with a fiery tenor and outside in style of playing. Due to health situations, Shepp went to the sidelines for awhile, recently resurfacing with Ambrose Akinmusire, and now here showing he’s still got the burn as he teams with vocalist Raw Poetic, Earl Davis on drums, Pat Fritz/g, Aaron Gause/key, Luke S teward/b, Jamal Mooree/ ts-cl-pec and Bashi Rose/dr for a collection of fun, funky and soulful themes.
Interspersed between the songs are short little vocal or musical vignettes of “Professor Shepp’s Agenda” while his patented breathy and bluesy tenor is in all its glory on “Valuable Lesson”. The drums are driving and the keyboards and funky on “Tulips” as well as on the soulful “Learning To Breath” led by Steward’s electric bass. Some background hip rap is heard under Shepp’s tenor and Fritz’s searing guitar on “Aperture” and the two get cruising in a V8 on “Sugar Coat It”. If Gil Scott Heron were around for some beat poetry in the mix, you’d have a perfect soul fest; as it is, it sure ain’t bad!