Name: Kwanza (Verve By Request Series)
Brand: Archie Shepp

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

4847618

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2023-02-17

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Universal

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0602448476180

Total Cap

1 / Black / LP

Artist

Archie Shepp

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

Verve

Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s. His work focused on highlighting the injustices faced by African people. He has collaborated with various artists, including [Collaborator 1], [Collaborator 2], and his "New Thing" contemporaries, most notably [Contemporary Artist 1] and [Contemporary Artist 2].

Verve Records, also known as Verve, is a multinational record label that was founded in 1956 by jazz impresario Norman Granz. The label originated from the consolidation of Granz's earlier labels, Norgran Records and Clef Records. In 1960, Verve was sold to MGM Records and became a subsidiary of the company. Throughout the 1960s, Verve expanded its music genres to include comedy, pop, R&B, rock, and folk music.

During this time, Verve had successful jazz recordings from artists such as Stan Getz, Kai Winding, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jimmy Smith under the direction of Creed Taylor. In 1972, MGM sold its record division to Polydor which brought Verve into the newly formed PolyGram family of record labels. As a result of this transition, Verve focused primarily on jazz reissues while other non-jazz releases were absorbed into Polydor.

In the late 1980s, PolyGram decided to revive Verve with both reissue programs and new artist signings. This revitalization led to strong sales for both new material and remastered classic recordings. With the merger of PolyGram and Vivendi Universal in 1999 creating Universal Music Group (UMG), Verve Records became part of The Verve Music Group alongside other influential labels such as Blue Note Records and Impulse! Records.

These 1969 recordings (released 5 years later) combine Shepp’s free jazz bonafides and a blend of blues and funk through an African lens, all in a big band setting. The all-star brass section, featuring James Spaulding and Charles Davis on sax along with trombonist Graham Moncur III lead the way on stand outs including “New Africa” and “Spoo Pee Doo”.

This Verve By Request LP features transfers from analogue tapes and remastered on 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.

Kwanza (Verve By Request Series)

Music GB