This post is by Scott
Recorded February 6, 1980
On paper, this may not sound like like a compelling listening experience. An album of hoary blues chestnuts from the 20s and 30s taken at an ambling slow pace that only occasionally varies to an ambling very slow pace. The music is performed by just two musicians, who can offer limited variety in terms of instrumental color. But what may appear to be a recipe for a dolorous, baleful program turns out to be a testament to the enduring power and near- limitless potential of the blues.
Archie Shepp's vocalizations invoke the memories of Bessie Smith and other bygone masters of blues singing. Horace Parlan's pared-to-the-bone support may as well be an entire orchestra. The music lacks nothing. Like unvarnished wood, it's austerity makes it even more appealing.
This was Shepp's second duo collaboration with Parlan, and I think it's even better than their first. Rather than a dry or dusty look at history, the pair demonstrates how the past can be re-examined and re-invented as a wellspring for timeless, vital expression.
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