Intelligent, articulate and controversial tenor sax player, composer, and singer Archie Shepp was a strong advocate of “free jazz” in the 1960s and 1970s. He surprised Japanese jazz fans in the 1990s when he released a series of ballad albums from Venus Records, beginning with Blue Ballads in 1995. In a nutshell, this recording is a treasure. Tenor sax legend Archie Shepp is joined by one of his favorite collaborators, pianist Horace Parlan, in a terrific set of classic jazz ballads.