Volumes 1 & 2 of 'Live In Antibes' document Archie Shepp’s appearance at the Antibes Jazz Festival of July 1970. Both are notable for the presence of Shorter (brother of Wayne) and Thornton.
Volume 2 opens with waves of percussion from Delcloo; a steady drum roll with the pitch changing up and down that’s reminiscent of waves breaking on the shore. This is soon followed by a long section of piano playing that’s fairly basic both in form and technique, before the horns open up. It’s not clear who’s playing piano here – both Shepp and Thornton are credited with playing piano on the sleeve, but both seem to solo while the piano goes on. Perhaps they were taking turns.
Also intriguing is Shepp’s solo in the second half of the piece – a mesmerizing piece of upper-register playing that seems to have tenor accompaniment. Again, it’s not clear who’s playing the second tenor – the line is fairly simple so perhaps one of the other band members stepped up, or maybe Shepp is managing to play 2 horns simultaneously, a la Roland Kirk? Either way, this section, and the subsequent group interplay and solo by Dejean that’s fairly interesting.
LIVE IN ANTIBES volume 2
BYG 529.339
Recorded July 20th, 1970
Side One
1. Huru (part 1)
Side Two
1. Huru (part 2)
PERSONNEL
ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax, piano, voice
ALAN SHORTER; flugelhorn, voice
CLIFFORD THORNTON; valve trombone, piano
JOSEPH DEJEAN; guitar
BEB GEURIN; bass
CLAUDE DELCLOO; drums
