Mama Too Tight

Mama Too Tight opens with one of the great subversive performances in the history of jazz. A horn section vamps over a dance riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Quincy Jones soundtrack. The groove is brought to a boil over the course of several minutes, then a lone tenor sax begins to bubble up from the back row; all of a sudden, this outlaw sax is defacing with bleating, untamed blues what previously appeared to be nothing more than pleasant dance. “Mama Too Tight” might be the most succinct illustration of Shepp’s modus operandi: a trained tenor player well versed in classical music and formal jazz, Shepp sought to restore the primal voice of blues and African folk music to 1960s jazz. Mama Too Tight resounds with the husky tones of Shepp’s tenor and the brassy rejoinders of his seven-member band. Every song feels like a ritual dance, every instrumental voice shouting forth from the circle. Of unique note on this date are duel trombonists Grachan Moncur III and Roswell Rudd, and tuba player Howard Johnson, who bring to the album a jumbo-lunged low-end that recalls the parade bands of New Orleans. Shepp was attempting to stand the jazz academy on its nose and Mama Too Tight still feels as vociferous as the era’s equally defiant rock’n’roll.