Thunderous, joyous, angry, sad beautiful and swinging. All of this in forty minutes of music from Shepp. This is a remarkable record that has so many flavors. The free jazz of his earlier work is replaced by gospel, blues and R&B. The opener is an all out assault that literally screams from the speakers. The fact that his can be followed by a ballad of such tenderness as Steam shows the genius of Shepp. Human rights form a common theme throughout and may explain some of the energy within. Shepp himself sounds so much more fulfilling in a bluesy role. –Jon
Seriously funky! The title track makes Sly Stone look like Kenny Rogers. The rest reminds me of Gil Scott-Heron occasionally straying into freaky Melvin Van Peebles territory. Expecting jazz, this album really blew my mind the first time I heard it. –David
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