Title: All over the map, but always on track.
Review: Attica Blues, tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp's response to the Attica uprising, is a much more sobering retort than one would expect from the 1960's firebrand. Vocal ballads dominate the album, which also includes early 70's funk, rock rhythms and some big band swing. It is a peculiarly mixed album, especially in it's vocal performances. The opening title track is one of the most furious free form funk cuts one could imagine, sort of a cross between Sly and the Family Stone and late period Coltrane. Whereas the final cut "Quiet Dawn" is a tentative ballad sung by a child. Spoken word interludes between tracks unfortunately date the album even further than the instrumentation does. Uneven in spots, but not without a certain strange charm; Attica Blues is one of Shepp's most diverse albums.
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