A really cool collaboration between tenor legend Archie Shepp and keyboardist Jasper Van't Hof – two players who worked together before this album, and come back nicely with a really inventive sort of sound! You may know Jasper from his wilder, wiggier electronic work of the 70s – and here, he uses some of those elements in the music, mixed with acoustic piano – but often at a level that seems really well-tuned to Archie's spirit, which wouldn't have been the case with his work of the past. There's a really great sense of variety going on here – from the electronic theme "The Hunter", to a sublime mellow acoustic take on "Naima", to a strange Shepp vocal performance on "Down Home In New York" – next to other cuts that include "Pulse Of The Roots", "In A Decent Way", and "5th Of May". CD

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Archie Shepp in Europe is always an amazing thing – and here, the spiritual master is captured right between his late 60s free French recordings, and some of his more tightly-controlled Italian albums of the second half of the decade! There's a great balance here – as Archie's still flowing forth with some of the inspirations of his Impulse sessions, while also pushing that spirituality into an exploration of older jazz material too – at that level that would really evolve in his recordings of the following decade. The lineup here is nicely unusual – with some superb piano from Dave Burrell, plus bass from Donald Garrett, percussion and flute from Zusaan Fasteau Garrett, and drums from Muhammad Ali. Shepp plays piano on one track, and Jasper Van't Hof plays piano on another – and titles include "Dr King The Peaceful Warrior", "Little Willie Leaps", "Round Midnight", "Sonny's Back", "African Blues", and "Sophisticated Lady". LP, Vinyl record album