Things Have Got to Change

Each of Archie Shepp’s Impulse records from the 1960s and ‘70s seemed to reveal a wholly new side of the man and his musical concerns. So consider Things Have Got to Change, his 11th album for the imprint, to be yet another side of his hendecagon. With an assembled group some 25 strong, including five percussionists, soulful belter Joe Lee Wilson, and a bevy of back-up singers (including a pre-Love Joys Claudette Brown!), Shepp pushes the limits of what a big band or minimalist rock band could sound like across two sidelong suites. Wilson’s gospel power belts out “Gimme some money!” ad nauseum while the ensemble churns and choogles like an out of control downtown train. It’s unrelenting in its intensity yet also mesmerizing. The “Things Have Got To Change” side might be even more powerful, pairing Leroy Jenkins’s violin to Dave Burrell’s groovy electric piano stylings and an electronic squiggle from Romulus Franceschini that slowly rises to the fore and leads to one of the most effective lock grooves to be had on any jazz (or rock) album.