This premium edition revives a historic 1969 Paris session from the iconic BYG/Actuel catalog-an essential statement from a visionary musician and activist, now reissued in it's best quality ever. Restored & remastered from the original tapes by Nick Robbins, it features a new and insightful essay by author & music journalist Kevin Le Gendre. The CD edition comes in a deluxe digi-sleeve that captures the essence of the original LP, complete with a 16-page booklet and printed inner wallet. Awarded Audiophile Album of the Month by Jazzwise, March 2023, and hailed as "A must for Shepp fans as well as free-jazz aficionados" by Kevin Whitlock - Jazzwise. Florida-born saxophonist, composer, poet, actor, and playwright Archie Shepp was one of the most powerful voices of politicized Black culture in the late '60s-a time of radical thought and social upheaval. After relocating to Paris, Shepp recorded a series of groundbreaking albums, including Blas�, which explored themes of freedom, racial equality, and the deep roots of African-American music. Blending gospel, blues, and avant-garde jazz, the album featured the mesmerizing vocals of Jeanne Lee and members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, creating a powerful fusion of jazz, poetry, and radical politics. Blas� defies categorization, moving fluidly across eras and influences-what Shepp called "pre-jazz" as much as "free jazz." From a graceful reprise of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Lady to the propulsive rhythms of Touareg, inspired by his transformative experience at the 1969 Pan-African Festival in Algiers, Shepp's vision was always expansive. Black music has a dynamic relationship with it's past-what was once old becomes new again, resonating across generations. If Blas� teaches us anything, it's that younger artists will always feel the spirit of their predecessors, both in life and beyond. As Duke Ellington put it: "All God's chillun got rhythm."
