When Frederick “Shep” Sheppard died in Phoenix in January of 2008, a small piece of the impressive legacy he left behind was the basic tracks for Habari Gani, which he’d recorded in December 2007. Some were released in a somewhat rougher form in 2008 as Tradition: The Habari Gani Sessions. Now, drummer Chris Lacinak, who was on the original recording sessions, has returned to them with a new level of attention and a wealth of instrumentation to fill out the sound. Three compositions appear on both recordings, but the versions on the new release are different takes. In any case, a figure like Sheppard, whose career spanned eras and genres and whose “Appears On” reads like a who’s-who of R&B from New Orleans and beyond, certainly merits such a completist approach.

In addition to Lacinak, the original sessions included Brian Seeger on guitar and James Singleton on bass. Each of the four has composer credit on the album, and Habari Gani is as tight and as funky as that lineup would lead us to assume. Instead of Shep’s own work doubling on baritone and soprano saxophones, Lacinak calls upon Dirty Dozen Brass Band founder Roger Lewis and Elliot “Stackman” Callier to fulfill those duties. Their stamps upon the material are clear, as are those of James Andrews’ trumpet and David Torkanowsky’s organ, but Habari Gani never strays far from the groove laid down in 2008, or from Sheppard’s tenor sax.

The arrangements are thick. So much has been added to the basic tracks that at times there’s a kitchen-sink feel to them. In this case, that excess makes sense. It sounds like a celebration of Sheppard’s life and work, and an understandable reluctance that the album shares with its musicians, to part with him or to stop playing.