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{{Short description|American jazz musician (born 1937)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Archie Shepp
| image = Archie shepp Warszawa 1.jpg
| caption = Shepp in [[Warsaw]], 2008
| birth_name = Archie Vernon Shepp
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1937|5|24}}
| birth_place = [[Fort Lauderdale]], Florida, United States
| instrument = [[Tenor saxophone]], [[soprano saxophone]], [[alto saxophone]], [[piano]], vocals
| genre = [[Jazz]], [[free jazz]], [[avant-garde jazz]]
| occupation = Musician, composer, educator
| years_active = 1960–present
| label = [[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]], [[SteepleChase Records|SteepleChase]], [[Denon Records|Denon]], [[BYG Actuel]], [[Marge Records|Marge]]
| website = {{URL|archieshepp.org}}
}}

'''Archie Shepp''' (born May 24, 1937) is an American [[jazz]] saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of [[avant-garde jazz]].<ref name="Britannica">[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Archie-Shepp "Archie Shepp: American Musician and Educator"], ''Encyclopaedia Britannica''.</ref>

==Biography==
===Early life===
Archie Vernon Shepp was born in [[Fort Lauderdale]], Florida, United States, but was raised in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Britannica" /> He began playing [[banjo]] with his father, then studied [[piano]] and [[saxophone]] while attending high school in [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown]]. He studied drama at [[Goddard College]] from 1955 to 1959.<ref name="NEA Jazz Masters">{{cite web|title=NEA Jazz Masters|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/archie-shepp|website=www.arts.gov|access-date=October 26, 2017}}</ref>

He played in a [[Latin jazz]] band for a short time before joining the band of avant-garde pianist [[Cecil Taylor]]. In 1962, Shepp performed with trumpeter [[Bill Dixon]] at the [[8th World Festival of Youth and Students]] in [[Helsinki]], Finland.<ref name="CI">{{cite journal|url=https://www.criticalimprov.com/index.php/csieci/article/view/6322/6326|title=Free Jazz Communism: Archie Shepp–Bill Dixon Quartet at the 8th World Festival of Youth and Students in Helsinki 1962|journal=Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études Critiques en Improvisation |date=10 May 2021 |volume=14 |issue=2–3 |access-date=May 18, 2023|publisher=Critical Improv|doi=10.21083/csieci.v14i2.6322 |last1=Grundy |first1=David |last2=Crépon |first2=Pierre |s2cid=241856641 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Shepp's first recording under his own name, ''[[Archie Shepp - Bill Dixon Quartet]]'', was released on [[Savoy Records]] in 1963 and features a composition by [[Ornette Coleman]].<ref name=CbOct63>{{cite news |title=New Album Releases – Pop |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1963/CB-1963-10-12-OCR-Page-0106.pdf |work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]|editor-last=Ostrow|editor-first=Marty|location=New York|publisher=Cash Box Publications|page=38|date=October 12, 1963}}</ref><ref name="jdisco">{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/archie-shepp/discography|title=Archie Shepp Discography|access-date=July 30, 2009|publisher=Jazzdisco.org}}</ref> Along with alto saxophonist [[John Tchicai]] and trumpeter [[Don Cherry (trumpeter)|Don Cherry]], Shepp formed the [[New York Contemporary Five]].<ref name="AM">{{cite web|last1=Wynn|first1=Ron|title=Archie Shepp|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/archie-shepp-mn0000503279/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 9, 2017}}</ref> [[John Coltrane]]'s admiration for Shepp led to recordings for [[Impulse! Records]], the first of which was ''[[Four for Trane]]'' in 1964, an album of mainly Coltrane compositions on which he was joined by Tchicai, trombonist [[Roswell Rudd]], trumpeter [[Alan Shorter]], bassist [[Reggie Workman]] and drummer [[Charles Moffett]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Leroi |author-link=Leroi Jones |title=Black Music |publisher=AkashiClassics |date=2010 |pages=151–155 |chapter=Four for Trane }}</ref>

===Early career===
Shepp participated in the sessions for Coltrane's ''[[A Love Supreme]]'' in late 1964, but none of the takes he participated in were included on the final LP release (they were made available for the first time on a 2002 reissue).<ref name="AM" /> However, Shepp, along with Tchicai and others from the ''Four for Trane'' sessions, then recorded ''[[Ascension (John Coltrane album)|Ascension]]'' with Coltrane in 1965, and his place alongside Coltrane at the forefront of the [[avant-garde jazz]] scene was epitomized when the pair split a record (the first side a Coltrane set, the second a Shepp set) entitled ''[[New Thing at Newport]]'' released in late 1965.
[[File:Archie Shepp interview 1978.webm|thumb|left|thumbtime=2|(video) Interview from 1978: Shepp discusses jazz trends, poverty, politics, civil rights, culture and society.]]
[[File:S.B.Foy-Archie Shepp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05| Shepp with the singer [[Shirley Bunnie Foy]], with whom he recorded the 1975 album ''[[A Sea of Faces]]'']]
In 1965, Shepp released ''[[Fire Music (Archie Shepp album)|Fire Music]]'', which included the first signs of his developing political consciousness and his increasingly Afrocentric orientation. The album took its title from a ceremonial African music tradition and included a reading of an elegy for [[Malcolm X]].<ref name="AM" /> Shepp's 1967 ''[[The Magic of Ju-Ju]]'' also took its name from African musical traditions, and the music was strongly rooted in African music, featuring an African percussion ensemble. At this time, many [[African-American]] jazzmen were increasingly influenced by various continental African cultural and musical traditions; along with [[Pharoah Sanders]], Shepp was at the forefront of this movement. ''The Magic of Ju-Ju'' defined Shepp's sound for the next few years: [[freeform jazz|freeform]] avant-garde saxophone lines coupled with rhythms and cultural concepts from Africa.

Shepp was invited to perform in [[Algiers]] for the 1969 Pan-African Cultural Festival<ref name="All About Jazz">{{cite web|title=Archie Shepp Profile|url=https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/archieshepp| website=All About Jazz|access-date= November 9, 2017}}</ref> of the [[Organization of African Unity]], along with [[Dave Burrell]], [[Sunny Murray]], and [[Clifford Thornton]]. This ensemble then recorded several sessions in Paris at the [[BYG Actuel]] studios.

Shepp continued to experiment into the new decade, at various times including harmonica players and spoken word poets in his ensembles. With 1972's ''[[Attica Blues (album)|Attica Blues]]'' and ''[[The Cry of My People]]'', he spoke out for [[civil rights]]; the former album was a response to the [[Attica Prison riots]].<ref name="AM" /> Shepp also writes for theater; his works include ''The Communist'' (1965)<ref name="All About Jazz" /> and ''Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy'' (1972).<ref name="Lady">{{cite web|title=Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy|url=http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_l/ladyday.html| website= Guide to Musical Theater|access-date= November 9, 2017}}</ref> Both were produced by [[Robert Kalfin]] at the [[Chelsea Theater Center]].<ref name="NYM">{{cite web|title=New York Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HecCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15| website=Google Books|publisher=New York Media, LLC|access-date= November 9, 2017|page=15|date= October 23, 1972}}</ref>
[[File:Archie Shepp022.JPG|thumb|right| Shepp in France, 1982]]
In the late 1960s, Shepp began his teaching career as a professor of African-American Studies at [[State University of New York|SUNY]] in [[Buffalo, New York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/archie-shepp |title=National Endowment for the Arts |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=May 18, 2023}}</ref> In 1971, Shepp was recruited to the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] by [[Randolph Bromery]],<ref name="umassobit">{{cite web|title=Randolph W. Bromery, Champion of Diversity, Du Bois and Jazz as UMass Amherst Chancellor, Dead at 87| url=http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/randolph-w-bromery-champion-diversity-du-bois-and-jazz-umass-amherst-chancellor-dead-87|website=umass.edu|access-date= November 9, 2017|date= February 27, 2013}}</ref> beginning a 30-year career as a professor of music. Shepp's first two courses were entitled "Revolutionary Concepts in African-American Music" and "Black Musician in the Theater".<ref name="retired">{{cite web|title=Retired Prof. Archie Shepp discuses legendary career|first=Bradley|last= Farberman| url=http://dailycollegian.com/2007/01/29/retired-prof-archie-shepp-discuses-legendary-career/|website=The Massachusetts Daily Collegian|access-date= November 9, 2017|date= January 29, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Archie Shepp at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, August 19, 1982.jpg|thumb|left| Shepp at [[Keystone Korner]], [[San Francisco]], August 19, 1982]]
In the late 1970s and beyond, Shepp's career went between various old territories and various new ones. He continued to explore African music, while also recording [[blues]], ballads, spirituals (on the 1977 album ''[[Goin' Home (Archie Shepp and Horace Parlan album)|Goin' Home]]'' with [[Horace Parlan]]) and tributes to more traditional jazz figures such as [[Charlie Parker]] and [[Sidney Bechet]], while at other times dabbling in [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], and recording with various European artists including [[Jasper van't Hof]], Tchangodei and [[Dresch Mihály]].

===Later career===
[[File:Shepp workman mergentheim 06.jpg|right|thumb| Shepp in 2016]]
Shepp is featured in the 1981 documentary film ''[[Imagine the Sound]]'', in which he discusses and performs his music and poetry. Shepp also appears in ''Mystery, Mr. Ra'', a 1984 French documentary about [[Sun Ra]]. The film also includes footage of Shepp playing with Sun Ra's Arkestra.

Since the early 1990s, he has often played with the French trumpeter [[Eric Le Lann]]. In 1993, Shepp worked with [[Michel Herr]] to create the original score for the film ''[[Just Friends (1993 film)|Just Friends]]''.

In 2002, Shepp appeared on the [[Red Hot Organization]]'s tribute album to [[Fela Kuti]], ''[[Red Hot and Riot]]''. Shepp appeared on a track entitled "[[No Agreement]]" alongside [[Res (singer)|Res]], [[Tony Allen (musician)|Tony Allen]], [[Ray Lema]], [[Baaba Maal]], and [[Positive Black Soul]]. In 2004, Archie Shepp founded his own record label, Archieball, together with Monette Berthomier. The label is located in Paris, France, and includes collaborations with [[Jacques Coursil]], Monica Passos, [[Bernard Lubat]], and [[Frank Cassenti]].

==Discography==
{{main|Archie Shepp discography}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{AllMusic}} {{Bandcamp}} {{Discogs artist}} {{MusicBrainz artist}}
{{commons category|Archie Shepp}}
* [https://www.archieshepp.org/ Official site]
* Stewart Smith, [http://www.summerhall.co.uk/press/archie-shepp-interview/ "Archie Shepp interview"], Summerhall, July 31, 2012.
* Phil Freeman, [http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/archie-shepp-interview "Interview: Archie Shepp on John Coltrane, the Blues and More"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429214158/http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/archie-shepp-interview |date=2015-04-29 }}, Red Bull Music Academy, August 25, 2014.
* {{IMDb name|id=0791906}}

{{Archie Shepp}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepp, Archie}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American pianists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:African-American pianists]]
[[Category:American jazz composers]]
[[Category:American jazz pianists]]
[[Category:American jazz tenor saxophonists]]
[[Category:American male jazz composers]]
[[Category:American male jazz pianists]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:Arista Records artists]]
[[Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Black & Blue Records artists]]
[[Category:BYG Actuel artists]]
[[Category:Enja Records artists]]
[[Category:Freedom Records artists]]
[[Category:Goddard College alumni]]
[[Category:Impulse! Records artists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Florida]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:MPS Records artists]]
[[Category:NEA Jazz Masters]]
[[Category:New York Contemporary Five members]]
[[Category:Prestige Records artists]]
[[Category:Sackville Records artists]]
[[Category:Savoy Records artists]]
[[Category:SteepleChase Records artists]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty]]

Archie Shepp - Revision history

imported>Derek R Bullamore: Minor clean-up