# Archie Shepp a rare performance at Princeton University: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/12/07/archie-shepp/
- Published: 2017-12-07T00:01:39+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Introducing saxophone great Archie Shepp for a rare performance at Princeton University
in early December, Rudresh Mahanthappa recalled his own college days, often spent
huddling with friends to listen to John Coltrane’s _Ascension _into the wee hours.
Lessons gleaned from the music of that era, he continued, instilled the idea that
social activism was as key a part of the music as aesthetic concerns.**

The students in Princeton’s jazz program, which Mahanthappa has directed since 2016,
received that lesson first-hand as Shepp spent the week giving workshops before 
taking the stage with the school’s Creative Large Ensemble under the direction of
Darcy James Argue. The 90-minute set, in the intimate, wood-paneled Richardson Auditorium,
largely followed the program of Shepp’s Grammy-nominated 2013 album I Hear the Sound,
itself a big band revival of the saxophonist’s 1972 classic _Attica Blues_.

The political was never far from the surface throughout the performance. As is typical
for performances of this music, the evening began in darkness as Shepp, in a taped
monologue, summarized the history of the Attica prison uprising and its repercussions
in today’s justice system, ending with the thought that, “perhaps we’re all prisoners.”
As the lights came up, Shepp related a story about visiting Algeria in 1970 at the
behest of Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, where trumpeter Cal Massey wrote
the evening’s opening number, “Quiet Dawn.”

Students Allison Spann and Anson Jones harmonized on the song’s wavering vocal lines
while Argue coaxed sharp stabs from the big band, with Shepp interjecting short 
blurts and blasts before launching into a full-throated solo that displayed his 
undiminished force. Though, as with most bands at their experience level, the soloists
showed varying levels of confidence and inspiration, they summoned an impressive
ensemble sound throughout the performance – though Argue occasionally had to right
a teetering tempo.

That wasn’t a problem during the funky groove of “Blues for Brother George Jackson,”
which bolstered the big band with a string quartet and eight-piece gospel choir.
Mahanthappa joked about Shepp’s requests for these extra components, pointing out
that “it’s only my second year running the program,” but noted that Shepp’s third
ask was met with an immediate “yes” – namely, inviting Amina Claudine Myers to join
the band for the occasion.

For most of the night Myers served as a ringer in the gospel choir, but took the
first of a few turns in the spotlight on her own “Arms,” a wrenchingly romantic 
ballad in which her own harrowing chants were met with breathy moans from Shepp’s
tenor. The duo shared an impassioned but utterly unsentimental balladry that alone
should provide the student musicians fodder for study for the remainder of their
tenures – and beyond. Myers returned for a lush rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Come
Sunday,” in Ernie Wilkins’ arrangement, and for “Ballad for a Child,” which found
Shepp’s tender, squeaking soprano scything through the sweet-toned strings and Myers’
steely lullaby.

Trumpeter Spencer Hadley showed off a clarion tone on the melody of Massey’s spiritual“
The Cry of My People” before taking a solid solo. Tenor saxophonist Diego Aldarondo
was a standout on this tune and later on Shepp’s “Ujamaa,” in both cases unfurling
fiery lines that managed to keep hold of a narrative thread throughout the length
of his solos. He and Spann, who displayed a command of time and an engaging presence
on “Quiet Dawn” as well as “Steam,” were the most promising of the young players.
The latter also featured verses by Shepp’s frequent collaborator, French chanteuse
Marion Rampal, and the saxophonist himself, whose croaky baritone made a few appearances.
Most effective was his stirring vocal turn on the buoyantly poignant “Steam,” inspired
by a cousin killed at the age of 15 in a Philadelphia street fight. Rampal’s supple
voice turned wistful on “Déjà Vu,” where Shepp showed off his ability to balance
raw emotion with a powerful lyricism during a particularly incisive solo.

The muscular groove of Shepp’s “Mama Too Tight,” written, he explained, about “a
lady from Philadelphia well known for brutalizing men,” felt less like a diversion
from the political in the midst of an onslaught of sexual harassment headlines, 
though the ensemble’s performance of it – and Shepp’s bellowing blues – was a celebratory
highlight nonetheless. The focus returned to the explicitly political on “Attica
Blues” itself, which closed the evening.

“State power is unrelenting,” Shepp asserted to introduce the tune, “and is something
we should stand up against.” The song – itself inspired by an uprising that Shepp
says “they called a riot and we called a rebellion” – offered a funk-fueled rallying
cry that felt insistent without being hopeless.

**Video: 2017 Archie Shepp Art songs **

**& spirituals à Jazz à la Villette arte**

![DSC_3948](https://i0.wp.com/cdn2.jazztimes.com/2017/12/DSC_3948-550x367.jpg?resize
=550%2C367&ssl=1)

[⌊Archie Shepp with Amina Claudine Myers, Darcy James Argue and Rudresh Mahanthappa
at Princeton University ⌉⌊Archie Shepp with Amina Claudine Myers, Darcy James Argue
and Rudresh Mahanthappa at Princeton University ⌉[

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