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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSHEPP, Archie(b 24 May '37, Ft Lauderdale FL) Saxophones, composer, leader; also playwright, poet. Grew up in Philadelphia; studied piano, clarinet, alto sax, switched to tenor as a child, later played soprano as well. Worked in R&B bands, obtained drama degree (plays prod. in NYC incl. The Communist '65, musical with trumpeter/composer Cal Massey Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy '72; also Junebug Graduates Tonight etc). He worked with Cecil Taylor '60 (incl. performing in prod. of The Connection), co-led groups: with Bill Dixon and the New York Contemporary Five with John Tchicai and Don Cherry (LPs on Savoy, Storyville, In Europe '63 on Delmark), worked, recorded with John Coltrane '65, has toured the world and led own groups, also teaching at U of Mass. '75, other places. He is a romantic and an eclectic traditionalist, infl. by Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins etc, trying to incl. everything. Eclecticism meant that he confused some critics, but his technical ability as a player and his emotional sincerity as a composer result in a body of work that has to be reckoned with, though some said that his later work lacked the 'operatic rush and dark ambience that made him a '60s guru' (Cadence magazine). Albums incl. many on Impulse: Four For Trane '64 with Tchicai and Roswell Rudd, Fire Music and New Thing At Newport (with Coltrane) '65, On This Night '66, Mama Too Tight '67 (octet LP with infl. of Duke Ellington, R&B, parodies of pop evergreens, avant-garde freakouts), Magic Of Ju-Ju, several more. Blas‚ (with vocalist Jeanne Lee), Yasmina: A Black Woman and Live At The Pan-African Festival (an attempt at African fusion '69, probably a failure) were made for French Byg, later on Affinity UK. Other albums: two-disc Montreux One/Two '75 and There's A Trumpet In My Soul '76 on Arista/Freedom; A Sea Of Faces '75 on Black Saint; Hi Fly '76 on Phonogram with vocalist Karin Krog; The House I Live In (with Lars Gullin on baritone and backed by the Tete Montoliu trio), Goin' Home '77 and Trouble In Mind '80 (duets with Horace Parlan), Looking At Bird '80 and Mama Rose '82 were all on Steeplechase; Ballads For Trane, quartet On Green Dolphin Street and Duet (with Abdulla Ibrahim) on Denon; Soul Song and Steam on Enja, Attica Blues '81 (arr./cond. by Ray Copeland) on Impulse, Down Home New York '84 and Little Red Moon '85 on Soul Note, many others on West Wind, Timeless, Optimism, hat Art (two vols of duo concert The Long March '79 with Max Roach) etc. Both Shepp and Pharoah Sanders were prominent avant-gardists in the '60s who seemed to lose their way; both made lovely quartet albums on Timeless '90 on which they played mostly standards and concentrated on portraying their roots through the honest and emotional sound of their horns: on I Didn't Know About You Shepp has Horace Parlan on piano. Jazz standards were deconstructed on Body And Soul '89 on Enja, a duo with Richard Davis on bass; The Tenors Of Yusef Lateef And Archie Shepp '92 on YAL saw both men were in good form, backed by a trio plus additional percussion on some tracks. |