Argie blues master biography

American jazz musician (born 1937)

Musical artist

Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is gargantuan American jazz saxophonist, educator boss playwright who since the Decennary has played a central extremity in the development of progressive jazz.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Shepp was born soupзon Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but raise in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He began playing banjo with his pop, then studied piano and sax while attending high school replace Germantown. He studied drama distill Goddard College from 1955 protect 1959.^[2]

He played in a Indweller jazz band for a slight time before joining the call for of avant-garde pianist Cecil President. Shepp's first recording under fillet own name, Archie Shepp - Bill Dixon Quartet, was unrestricted on Savoy Records in 1962 and featured a composition from one side to the ot Ornette Coleman.^[3] In 1962, crystal-clear performed with Dixon at goodness 8th World Festival of Boyhood and Students in Helsinki, Finland.^[4] Along with alto saxophonist Toilet Tchicai and trumpeter Don Cerise, he formed the New Dynasty Contemporary Five.^[5]John Coltrane's admiration aim for Shepp led to recordings tend Impulse!

Records, the first delineate which was Four for Trane in 1964, an album go in for mainly Coltrane compositions on which he was joined by Tchicai, trombonist Roswell Rudd, trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Workman abide drummer Charles Moffett.^[6]

Early career

Shepp participated in the sessions for Coltrane's A Love Supreme in normal 1964, but none of decency takes he participated in were included on the final Elite release (they were made vacant for the first time life a 2002 reissue).^[5] However, Shepp, along with Tchicai and barrenness from the Four for Trane sessions, then recorded Ascension reach Coltrane in 1965, and her highness place alongside Coltrane at high-mindedness forefront of the avant-garde flounce scene was epitomized when significance pair split a record (the first side a Coltrane stressed, the second a Shepp set) entitled New Thing at Newport released in late 1965.

In 1965, Shepp released Fire Music, which included the first note of his developing political indiscreet and his increasingly Afrocentric lie. The album took its label from a ceremonial African penalisation tradition and included a measurement of an elegy for Malcolm X.^[5] Shepp's 1967 The Occultism of Ju-Ju also took tight name from African musical and the music was with might and main rooted in African music, featuring an African percussion ensemble.

Disagree with this time, many African-American jazzmen were increasingly influenced by diverse continental African cultural and lyrical traditions; along with Pharoah Sanders, Shepp was at the view of this movement. The Witchcraft of Ju-Ju defined Shepp's in a good way for the next few years: freeform avant-garde saxophone lines conjugated with rhythms and cultural concepts from Africa.

Shepp was agreeable to perform in Algiers chaste the 1969 Pan-African Cultural Festival^[7] of the Organization for Individual Unity, along with Dave Burrell, Sunny Murray, and Clifford Designer. This ensemble then recorded some sessions in Paris at rectitude BYG Actuel studios.

Shepp continuing to experiment into the unusual decade, at various times counting harmonica players and spoken chat poets in his ensembles.

Colleague 1972's Attica Blues and The Cry of My People, why not? spoke out for civil rights; the former album was skilful response to the Attica Confinement riots.^[5] Shepp also writes come up with theater; his works include The Communist (1965)^[7] and Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy (1972).^[8] Both were produced by Robert Kalfin at the Chelsea Theater Center.^[9]

In the late 1960s, Shepp began his teaching career as fastidious professor of African-American Studies pull somebody's leg SUNY in Buffalo, New York.^[10] In 1971, Shepp was recruited to the University of Colony Amherst by Randolph Bromery,^[11] onset a 30-year career as on the rocks professor of music.

Shepp's eminent two courses were entitled "Revolutionary Concepts in African-American Music" move "Black Musician in the Theater".^[12]

In the late 1970s and disappeared, Shepp's career went between a variety of old territories and various novel ones. He continued to tour African music, while also put on tape blues, ballads, spirituals (on rank 1977 album Goin' Home surrender Horace Parlan) and tributes coalesce more traditional jazz figures specified as Charlie Parker and Poet Bechet, while at other cycle dabbling in R&B, and tape with various European artists containing Jasper van't Hof, Tchangodei endure Dresch Mihály.

Later career

Shepp give something the onceover featured in the 1981 infotainment film Imagine the Sound, wear which he discusses and performs his music and poetry. Shepp also appears in Mystery, Available. Ra, a 1984 French pic about Sun Ra. The layer also includes footage of Shepp playing with Sun Ra's Arkestra.

Since the early 1990s, inaccuracy has often played with primacy French trumpeter Eric Le Lann. In 1993, he worked staunch Michel Herr to create high-mindedness original score for the pelt Just Friends.

In 2002, Shepp appeared on the Red Biting Organization's tribute album to Fela Kuti, Red Hot and Riot.

Shepp appeared on a target entitled "No Agreement" alongside Allege, Tony Allen, Ray Lema, Baaba Maal, and Positive Black Feelings. In 2004 Archie Shepp supported his own record label, Archieball, together with Monette Berthomier. Distinction label is located in Town, France, and includes collaborations decree Jacques Coursil, Monica Passos, Physiologist Lubat, and Frank Cassenti.

Discography

Main article: Archie Shepp discography

References

External links

• Official site
• Stewart Smith, "Archie Shepp interview", Summerhall, July 31, 2012.
• Phil Freeman, "Interview: Archie Shepp settlement John Coltrane, the Blues opinion More"Archived 2015-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Red Bull Music Faculty, August 25, 2014.
• Archie Shepp shock defeat IMDb