Shepp, Archie

Shepp, Archie (Vernon)

(born May 24, 1937, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S.) U.S. jazz saxophonist and composer. Shepp was originally inspired by John Coltrane. His playing increasingly demonstrated the influence of Ben Webster, with a wide vibrato and gruff tone; his occasional eruptions of harsh screams and multiphonics (two notes played simultaneously) became trademarks of avant-garde saxophone technique. His first recordings were with free-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor (b. 1933) in the early 1960s; thereafter he worked as leader of his own groups. Also a playwright and educator, Shepp became an eloquent spokesman for the new music and its social significance.

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Shepp, Archie (1937–  ) jazz musician; born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Raised in Philadelphia, he studied drama at Goddard College before emerging in 1960 as a saxophonist with Cecil Taylor, whose ensemble was appearing in the off-Broadway production of The Connection. Throughout the 1960s he was a spokesman for the jazz avant-garde and a leader of the Jazz Composers Guild and other collectives. In 1964 he began leading his own stylistically eclectic groups which eventually gained a wide following in Europe. In addition to his performing career, he wrote plays and essays, and taught African-American studies at the University of Massachusetts (1973).