Archie+shepp

At various times in his long career, saxophonist, composer, playwright, and educator Archie Shepp has been regarded as a musical firebrand, cultural radical, soulful throwback to the jazz tradition, contemplative veteran explorer, and global jazz statesman…

At various times in his long career, saxophonist, composer, playwright, and educator Archie Shepp has been regarded as a musical firebrand, cultural radical, soulful throwback to the jazz tradition, contemplative veteran explorer, and global jazz statesman…

At various times in his long career, saxophonist, composer, playwright, and educator Archie Shepp has been regarded as a musical firebrand, cultural radical, soulful throwback to the jazz tradition, contemplative veteran explorer, and global jazz statesman…

Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA) is an African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African people, as well as for his work with The New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and his collaborations with his "New Thing" contemporaries, most notably Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane.

Among the many facets of Archie Shepp's distinguished career, it is notable that since his solo debut in 1964, he has been gigging and recording at a near-constant pace. For an 83-year-old saxophone player specializing in provocative and boundary-challenging improvisation, this is impressive enough, but that Shepp's creative, intellectual, and political fire has in 50-plus years remained undimmed, well, that is remarkable indeed…

The double CD features three original recordings from El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble plus remixes from world-renowned producers Charles Webster, Osunlade, Henrik Schwarz, IG Culture (Bugz in the Attic) and more…

Alto and tenor saxophonist Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble is constantly full of surprises on Mean Ameen, a tribute to the late trumpeter Ameen Muhammad. While "3-D" is a bit reminiscent of the free bop of Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz, Dawkins' tenor sometimes hints at Archie Shepp, "Haiti" sounds like the "small instruments" explorations of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and "The Messenger" is an excellent tribute to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers…