Shepp Cunningham

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…

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.

John Coltrane and Archie Shepp - New Thing at Newport (1965) {2000 Impulse!}
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© 2000 UMG / Verve / Impulse! | 314 543 414-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Hard Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz

The classic John Coltrane Quartet made one of its final appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. The tension among bandmembers is evident on the advanced versions of "One Down, One Up" and "My Favorite Things." Coltrane's performance is moving…yet weary. It's apparent the saxophonist wasn't getting the sound he wanted and by the end of the year he would take a different direction, hiring Pharoah Sanders and wife Alice Coltrane for the band. Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp's earlier afternoon New Thing performance includes engaging versions of "Call Me by My Rightful Name" and "Gingerbread, Gingerbread Boy" (included as a bonus track on this package) with Bobby Hutcherson on vibes.

Archie Shepp & Mal Waldron - Left Alone Revisited (2002) {Enja Records ENJA CD 9141-2}
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© 2002 Enja Records | ENJA CD 9141-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Saxophone / Piano

The duo of Archie Shepp and Mal Waldron come together beautifully here – in a mode that echoes some of the duets that pianist Waldron recorded with other reedmen in the 70s and 80s, but which has an especially wonderful contribution from Shepp! Archie blows both tenor and soprano sax – and the warmth of his horn in later years is really perfect here – especially as the album's sometime of an update of Waldron's earlier Left Alone classic, recorded after the death of Billie Holiday at the end of the 50s. As with that one, the tunes here include some numbers very strongly tied to Billie's legacy, but the vibe is very different, and very personal along the lines of the spirit of Shepp and Waldron.

In their series of Jazz greats, TDK release on DVD the first part of a jazz night in Torino in 1977 with famed sax player Archie Shepp and his Quartet. Archie Shepp was much discussed among jazz fans during the 1970s as it was becoming increasingly clear that a profound change was taking place in his approach to music and even his physical appearance. For years he had been the embodiment of black resistance, dressing in traditional African garments and protesting against the suppression of black people. But now he was wearing suits and had given up his free style of playing in favour of interpretations of known pieces from the jazz tradition. Inevitably, the changes upset some people and pleased others. But Shepp never made it easy to judge him, and ignoring the talk he went ahead on his straight path, which had already led him to a place among the jazz greats while he was still a young man.

Archie Shepp - Mariamar (1975) {Horo–Atomic Records 76810 rel 2009}
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© 1975, 2009 Horo Records / Atomic Records | 76810
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Deep Jazz / Saxophone

A very nice issue of a 1976 Italian LP of Archie Shepp with local and Brazilian musicians spinning out lush, soulful jazz tunes. Shepp is of course a master of many styles of jazz, and here he focuses on melodic lyrical ballads with a tight, piano-less sextet. Shepp’s playing is soulful and generous, giving plenty of room for solos from his band.

Archie Shepp - Things Have Got To Change (1971) {Impulse! Japan MVCI-23081 rel 1992}
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© 1971, 1992 Impulse! / MCA Victor Japan | MVCI-23081
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Things Have Got To Change is wonderful post-Paris work from Archie Shepp – a record that has him bringing more focus back into his work after sessions overseas – and also making some great use of the legendary Joe Lee Wilson on vocals! There's a feeling here that's a real change for Shepp, but a great one too – a sound that's trying to reach new levels of expression in jazz – with a bit less of the sharp edges of the 60s, and more of the warmer, more righteous modes of the post-Coltrane generation.

Max Roach & Archie Shepp - The Long March (1979) {2CD Hat Hut, Nippon Crown Japan, CRCJ-2009~10 rel 1992}
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© 1979, 1992 Hat Hut Records / Nippon Crown Japan | CRCJ-2009~10
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Post Bop / Drums / Saxophone

The historic meeting of two truly influential and individual composers, arrangers, and instrumentalists on The Long March. The album appeared in 1979 on Swiss label Hat Hut. This date pairs Max Roach and Archie Shepp playing both solo and as a duo for one night in 1979 at the Willisau Jazz Festival. Roach's truly astonishing solo "J.C. Moses" is a tribute to Detroit jazz great J.C. Heard. The kinds of rimshots, trap stops and starts, and continuous rolling thunder take the breath away and make the listener wonder if this is really only one drummer. Next up is Shepp's solo tenor reading of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady," where he coaxes all the ballad's idiosyncrasies and fluidly combines them with his new jazz flourishes, without once disrespecting the integrity of the original.