**** Archie Shepp

FOUR FOR TRANE

(Impulse)

The farther back in history the new jazz revolution of the 1960s recedes, the less threatening and more logical its innovations seem. Case in point: this swinging scorcher of an album by saxophonist Archie Shepp. Although his sound provides historical continuity, his burly tone is redolent of swing-era greats Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins. On "Syeeda's Song Flute" and "Rufus," his solos are volatile and unpredictable, veering from righteous anger to funky sexuality to passages of remarkable formal clarity, in ways that push jazz conventions into new expressive territory.

In contrast to Shepp's volubility, the rigorous motivic variations of the session's alto-saxophonist, John Tchicai, sound calmly reasoned. Yet he too pushes logic to extremes. His solos on "Rufus" and "Cousin Mary" are as unsettling and eerie as they are orderly and coherent. Trombonist Roswell Rudd bubbles over with good will and joy; on "Syeeda" his plump tone and short punchy riffs provide a sunnier counterbalance to the intensity of the others. The late Charles Moffett and the redoubtable Reggie Workman drive the music furiously, their swing affixing even the most outrageous moments firmly to the jazz tradition.

-- Ed Hazell