Philadelphia-raised tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp (1937) cut his teeth in
Cecil Taylor's quartet (1960-62) and with Bill Dixon (1962),
and then (1963) joined
the New York Contemporary Five, a quintet with Don Cherry on cornet and John
Tchicai on alto saxophone that implemented the principles of Ornette Coleman's
Free Jazz (1960) on their Consequences (october 1963),
particularly Consequences (the only track with Cherry).
Shepp played on John Coltrane's Ascension (1965) and became one
of the first saxophonists to take Coltrane's new style literally.
Four tracks of Four For Trane (august 1964) were Coltrane compositions, performed by Shepp, trombonist Roswell Rudd, Tchicai, Coltrane's bassist Reggie Workman and Coleman's drummer Charles Moffett.
Shepp's festival of dissonance,
Fire Music (march 1965), was no less revolutionary than Coltrane's masterpiece.
In fact, it was even
wilder and harsher, like a volcanic eruption of notes that superficially
defied any logic, although at the end they left a sense of cathartic rebirth.
Only two pieces were by Shepp, Hambone and Los Olvidados, but
they both displayed innovative elements, the former relying on minimalist-like
horns and the latter painting an abstract soundscape.
Shepp was even more convincing on On This Night (august 1965), accompanied by
vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and a rotating cast of bassists and drummers,
at least in his On This Night and Mac Man.
Shepp used free jazz as a pretext to build up a dramatic style of saxophone
playing, that was closer in spirit to rhythm'n'blues than to bebop or swing.
He never really settled on a stable group, save a quintet with Rudd documented
on Three for a Quarter One for a Dime (february 1966).
Shepp was clearly much more influenced than Coltrane by contemporary
black politics and by the African heritage.
The drawback of Shepp's art is that, no matter how original, it never
sounded quite as sincere and profound as Coltrane's.
Where Coltrane was simply his own creation, largely independent of the times,
Shepp seemed more prone to follow (whether free jazz or "Black Power" or
Afrocentrism) than to lead. There were more authentic free-jazz players, there
were more sincere jazz politicians, and there were more fervent Afrocentric musicians; but probably noone else came close to fusing all three elements into one organic body of art as he did.
This socio-musical-philosophical fusion peaked with the three-part suite
A Portrait of Robert Thomson (dedicated to revisitations of
blues, gospel and jazz) and with the Middle-eastern Basheer on
Mama Too Tight (august 1966), again performed by a rotating cast of
avantgarde musicians.
The African element became explicit with the 18-minute The Magic of Ju-Ju for African percussion instruments and tenor saxophone on The Magic of Ju-Ju (april 1967).
After The Way Ahead (january 1968), his first recording with a pianist, that
sounded like a partial retreat, Shepp penned the 20-minute Yasmina A Black Woman on Yasmina (august 1969), accompanied by three members of the
Art Ensemble of Chicago and assorted percussionists.
After another half-hearted effort, Kwanza (mostly february 1969),
possibly his best ensemble ever (vocalist Jeanne Lee, trumpeter Lester Bowie, pianist Dave Burrell, bassist Malachi Favors, drummer Philly Joe Jones) helped him deliver the more meditational performances of Blase', My Angel and Tuareg on Blase' (august 1969).
Shepp played soprano on Black Gypsy (november 1969),
basically divided into two suites (not composed by him),
Black Gipsy and Epitaph of a Small Winner,
but that great season was rapidly winding down. He seemed increasingly less
interested in jazz (whether "free" or not) and more interested in
rhythm'n'blues and funk music. This phase culminated in the more conventional and heavily-arranged "songs" of Attica Blues (january 1972) and The Cry Of My People (september 1972), quite a repudiation of free jazz.
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