Archie Shepp Quartet, tour review: a jazz great who knows how to make an impact

Shepp has only mellowed a little over the years, says Jane Cornwell
A mix of wisdom, anger and urgency: Archie Shepp (Picture: Manfred Roth/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
Manfred Roth/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Jane Cornwell3 August 2015

Putting his soprano sax aside, Archie Shepp drew himself up to his full height and, microphone in hand, started declaiming. “A change is gonna come,” he intoned in his powerful, throaty voice, hurling the Afrocentric lyrics of his poem Revolution at a captivated, mainly white late night audience.

At 78, with professorships, musical precedents and a place in the pantheon of jazz greats under his trilby, Shepp knows how to make an impact. “Your vagina split asymmetrically between east and west,” he boomed, locking eyes with the crowd. “Ooh,” someone squealed, involuntarily.

Known for his early Sixties avant-garde work with Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane, then for his explorations of original black American music including blues and spirituals, Shepp has mellowed over the years. But only a bit: decades of experience, some fiery free bop playing and those more-relevant-than-ever vocals lent a mix of wisdom, anger and urgency to Revolution, a lengthy tour de force dedicated to his grandmother, born in the time of slavery. First up, though, was Une Petite Surprise Pour Mam’selle, an upbeat instrumental Shepp composed for his eldest daughter, in which dexterous tenor sax salvos were buoyed by a swinging rhythm section.

Blues number Drivin’ Miss Daisy was unhurried and self-assured, despite the occasional underwhelming note from an instrument whose tone hole he’d blown through earlier, clearing a blockage; Burning Bright, a colourful and expressive tune by jazz pianist Tom McClung, saw the maestro’s curdled honks and velvet-smooth runs interspersed with McClung’s inspired if sometimes repetitive solos. Set over, Shepp clamped his two saxes under his arm and left the stage with a curt nod. Aware, like the rest of us, of just how very good he is.

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