The Way Ahead (album)

The Way Ahead
The Way Ahead
Studio album by Archie Shepp
Released	November 1968
Recorded	January 29, 1968; February 26, 1969 (Bonus Tracks)
Genre	Avant-garde jazz
Length	60:17
Label	Impulse!
Producer	Bob Thiele
Archie Shepp chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[3]

The Way Ahead is an album by Archie Shepp, released on Impulse! Records in 1968. The album contains tracks recorded by Shepp, trumpeter Jimmy Owens, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, pianist Walter Davis Jr., bassist Ron Carter and drummers Roy Haynes and Beaver Harris in January 1968 with two additional tracks featuring baritone saxophonist Charles Davis, pianist Dave Burrell and bassist Walter Booker recorded in February 1969, and first released on Kwanza (1974), added to the CD release.

Reception

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek states: "The set is a glorious stretch of the old and new, with deep blues, gospel, and plenty of guttersnipe swing in the mix."^[2]

Track listing

"Damn If I Know (The Stroller)" (Walter Davis Jr.) - 6:16
"Frankenstein" (Grachan Moncur III) - 13:50
"Fiesta" (Archie Shepp) - 9:54
"Sophisticated Lady" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish) - 7:08
"New Africa" (Moncur) - 12:55 Bonus track on CD
"Bakai" (Cal Massey) - 10:14 Bonus track on CD

Recorded at RCA Studio, NYC, January 29, 1968 (tracks 1-4) and National Recording Studios, NYC, February 26, 1969(tracks 5-6)

Personnel

Archie Shepp: tenor saxophone
Jimmy Owens: trumpet
Grachan Moncur III: trombone
Walter Davis Jr.: piano (tracks 1-4)
Ron Carter: bass (tracks 1-4)
Roy Haynes: drums (tracks 3 & 4)
Beaver Harris: drums (tracks 1 & 2; 5 & 6)
Charles Davis: baritone saxophone (track 5 & 6)
Dave Burrell: piano (tracks 5 & 6)
Walter Booker: bass (tracks 5 & 6)

References

^ "Billboard". November 30, 1968.
^ ^a ^b AllMusic Review
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 179. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1290. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[1] "Billboard". November 30, 1968.

[AM-2] AllMusic Review

[RSJRG-3] Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 179. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

[Penguin-4] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1290. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[1]

v t e Archie Shepp
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Leader	Archie Shepp – Bill Dixon Quartet (1962) The House I Live In (and Lars Gullin, 1963) Four for Trane (1964) Fire Music (1965) On This Night (1965) New Thing at Newport (split album with John Coltrane, 1965) Archie Shepp Live in San Francisco (1966) Mama Too Tight (1966) The Magic of Ju-Ju (1967) For Losers (1968–69) Kwanza (1968–69) The Way Ahead (1968) Archie Shepp & Philly Joe Jones (1969) Black Gipsy (1969) Blasé (1969) Live at the Pan-African Festival (1969) Pitchin Can (1969–70) Poem for Malcolm (1969) Yasmina, a Black Woman (1969) Archie Shepp and the Full Moon Ensemble (1970) Coral Rock (1970) Doodlin' (1970) Things Have Got to Change (1971) Attica Blues (1972) The Cry of My People (1972) A Sea of Faces (1975) Bijou (1975) Body and Soul (Horo, 1975) Jazz a Confronto 27 (1975) Mariamar (1975) Montreux One (1975) Montreux Two (1975) There's a Trumpet in My Soul (1975) Hi-Fly (and Karin Krog, 1976) Steam (1976) Goin' Home (and Horace Parlan, 1977) On Green Dolphin Street (1977) Duet (and Dollar Brand, 1978) Lady Bird (1978) Looking at Bird (and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, 1980) Trouble in Mind (and Horace Parlan, 1980) Mama Rose (and Jasper van 't Hof, 1982) Soul Song (1982) Down Home New York (1984) California Meeting: Live on Broadway (1985) Little Red Moon (1985) Duo Reunion (and Horace Parlan, 1987) Splashes (1987) Lover Man (and Annette Lowman, 1988) Body and Soul (and Richard Davis, Enja, 1989) Blue Ballads (1995)
New York Contemporary Five	Archie Shepp & the New York Contemporary Five (1963) Consequences (1963) Rufus (1963) Bill Dixon 7-tette / Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5 (1964)
With Cecil Taylor	Air (1960) The World of Cecil Taylor (1960) Cell Walk for Celeste (1961) New York City R&B (originally Buell Neidlinger, 1961) Jumpin' Punkins (1961)
With others	A Love Supreme (John Coltrane, 1964) Ascension/The Major Works of John Coltrane (John Coltrane, 1965) Echo (Dave Burrell, 1969) One Down (Material, 1982) You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 (Frank Zappa, 1982–84)
Discography

v t e Dave Burrell
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	High Won-High Two (1968) Echo (1969) La Vie de Bohème (released 1969) After Love (1970) In: Sanity (The 360 Degree Music Experience, 1976) Dave Burrell Plays Ellington & Monk (1978) Lush Life (1978) Windward Passages (hatART, 1979) Live at the Black Musicians' Conference, 1981 (1981) The Jelly Roll Joys (1990) Recital (and Tyrone Brown, 2000) Expansion (2003) Consequences (2005) Margy Pargy (2005) Momentum (2005)
With David Murray	Hope Scope (1987) Ballads (1988) Deep River (1988) Lovers (1988) Lucky Four (1988) Spirituals (1988) Tenors (1988) Daybreak (Burrell, 1989) Remembrances (1990) Death of a Sideman (1991) In Concert (1991) Picasso (1992) Brother to Brother (1993)
With Archie Shepp	For Losers (1968–69) Kwanza (1968–69) The Way Ahead (1968) Black Gipsy (1969) Blasé (1969) Live at the Pan-African Festival (1969) Pitchin Can (1969–70) Yasmina, a Black Woman (1969) Things Have Got to Change (1971) Attica Blues (1972) The Cry of My People (1972) A Sea of Faces (1975) Body and Soul (1975) Jazz a Confronto 27 (1975) Montreux One (1975) Montreux Two (1975) There's a Trumpet in My Soul (1975) U-Jaama (Unite) (1975) Lover Man (1988)
With others	Three for Shepp (Marion Brown, 1966) I Plan to Stay a Believer (William Parker, 2001–08) Essence of Ellington (William Parker, 2012) Epitome (Odean Pope, 1993) Black Woman (Sonny Sharrock, 1969)