The first album on this revealing 4CD set finds saxophonist Archie Shepp in fresh-faced, gruff, and warm-hearted form with trombonist Charles Greenlee sharing the front line and Beaver Harris driving the rhythm section. A swaggering cover of Grachan Moncur’s ‘Hipnosis’ holds its grip for nearly half an hour, ‘Song for Mozambique’ features Shepp’s trenchant poetry as well as gorgeous Bunny Foy vocals and Cal Massey’s ‘Looking for Someone to Love’ is taken as a swinger. A 10- year gap separates A Sea of Faces, which was recorded in New York in 1975, and the other three albums, and though the approach is broadly similar, Shepp’s tone has mellowed and his aesthetic loosened. Down Home New York, recorded in 1984, features Shepp’s grainy sax and half-chanted vocals with a funky urban groove and there’s a nice reading of ‘’Round About Midnight’, featuring muted trumpet from Charles E McGhee. Little Red Moon, recorded in Milan nearly two years later, opens with two somewhat rambling shuffles and ‘Naima’ is the best of three covers. But Wilbur Little and Clifford Jarvis are knockout on bass and drums. And the live California Meeting captures Shepp in confident form singing ‘St James Infirmary’ and whizzing through ‘Giant Steps’ at 100 miles an hour. All four albums have their moments, but it is A Sea of Faces that stands out, and makes the set worth checking out.