5 Facts About Archie Shepp’s In the Tradition

It was an early digital jazz recording. Denon, the Japanese label under Nippon Columbia, released the album using their early digital recording technology.

The album was recorded in 1977. This places it among the first digital jazz recordings ever made.

It features Archie Shepp playing standards. The album includes interpretations of jazz classics, not original compositions.

Denon pioneered the digital recording process. Nippon Columbia’s engineers developed the PCM digital system used for this session.

The recording quality is historically significant. It captures Shepp’s saxophone with unusual clarity for its time, setting a benchmark for digital jazz.