Archie Shepp & The New York Contemporary Five

Personnel: Archie Shepp (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Archie Shepp; Don Cherry & Ed Blackwell (clarinet); Don Cherry (cornet); Don Moore (double bass); John Tchicai (alto saxophone); J.C. Moses (drums).
Liner Note Author: Erik Wiedemann.
Recording information: Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen, Denmark (11/15/1963).
This historically significant LP has six selections recorded by the New York Contemporary Five on November 11, 1963. The short-lived group, which consists of cornetist Don Cherry, altoist John Tchicai, Archie Shepp on tenor, bassist Don Moore, and drummer J.C. Moses, was avant-garde for the period, influenced most by Ornette Coleman's Quartet; the participation of Coleman's cornetist certainly helped. However, Tchicai (although sometimes hinting at Coleman) had a different approach than Coleman, and it was obvious that Shepp had already developed his own original voice and was the group's most passionate soloist. Together this very interesting quintet (which would soon break up) performs pieces by Coleman, Thelonious Monk (there's a short melodic renditions of "Crepescule with Nellie"), Bill Dixon, Tchicai, Shepp, and Cherry. ~ Scott Yanow