Archie Shepp - Live at the Panafrican Festival

2024

55th Anniversary Remastered Edition of Archie Shepp’s iconic Live at the Panafrican Festival...

'Live At The Panafrican Festival' is one of the most thought-provoking entries in Archie Shepp’s sprawling discography precisely because of the pivotal moment in time it captures. Archie Shepp has made many Afrocentric statements in his long distinguished career but this meeting with Algerian and Touareg musicians in 1969 ranks among his greatest artistic achievements. The backdrop was the inaugural Pan African Festival Of Culture that took place in Algiers in July 1969 in order to promote solidarity among African nations at a time when many were emerging from the yoke of colonialism and some were still fighting for freedom. Their struggle chimed with the Black Power movement in America, which the likes of Archie Shepp vocally supported.

Accompanied by compatriots, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, trumpeter Clifford Thornton, pianist Dave Burrell, double bassist Alan Silva and drummer Sunny Murray, Archie Shepp blows with both fiery, bluesy passion and soulful tenderness on lengthy pieces in which the Touareg percussion and double reed horns create dancing rhythms that regularly turn into a deep trance groove. Joining the two groups are poets Ted Joans and Don Lee, who deliver thought-provoking verse on the significance of the occasion, declaring emphatically that the African-Americans have come home to Africa, the land they consider to be the heartland of what is known as jazz.

On the album are two concerts that took place at the front of the Ketchaoua mosque and at the Atlas Cinema. It swarms, it screams, it moves, it dances. Archie Shepp and the musicians are in the middle of a crowd in trance, creating a frenetic atmosphere which assures the listener a completely immersive adventure.

This newly remastered version of 'Live At The Panafrican Festival' provides an opportunity to enjoy historic music that was in the vanguard of collaborations between African-American and African artists. Archie Shepp and the Touaregs embodied an ideal of unity across the Black Diaspora that still resonates strongly to this day.

Mono recording remastered from the master tapes
Audio restoration and mastering by Nick Robbins
Graphic design for this reissue by Phil Rogers
Reissue produced for release by Geoffrey Cousin
Executive producer for this reissue: Jean-Luc Young