ANDY HEDGECOCK is entertained by a playful novel that embeds a fictional game at its heart
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Archie Shepp Quartet, Ronnie Scott’s, London
Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp has lost none of his fiery commitment
Insurrectionary: Archie Shepp
[Schorle/Creative Commons]
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AS OCTOGENARIAN Archie Shepp plays Wise One by his old Philadelphia confrere John Coltrane, the decades melt away.
His moving horn eulogy, with drummer Steve McCraven’s flashing silver brushes and Darryl Hall’s plunging bass, deepen the sense of the long-time loss of a genius.
He begins the set with Elmo Hope’s Hope Two and that surly, gruff-noted yet astonishingly fluid tone suddenly lightens with an allusion to Softly, as a Morning Sunrise, as if every conceivable melody is stored in his horn and could be let loose at any moment.
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