mercredi 31 octobre 2012

Archie Shepp: The Complete Interview

Pendant les vacances de Toussaint on n'a pas beaucoup de concerts dans le région; peut-être prendre le temps de lire cet interview  sur le grand Archie Shepp??


                                                 Archie Shepp et Hamid Drake, Junas 2011




Archie Shepp: The Complete Interview

POSTED BY RICHARD SCHEININ ON OCTOBER 10TH, 2012 AT 2:34 PM | CATEGORIZED AS ARTSCONCERTSMUSIC
Last month, I spoke with saxophonist Archie Shepp, one of my heroes for more than 40 years now. Shepp spoke at length about growing up in Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia. He told stories about John Coltrane and Lee Morgan. He discussed the current movement, led by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, to retire the term “jazz” from the lexicon, and instead to call it “BAM,” or Black American Music.
Here’s the complete transcript of my interview with Shepp, who performs Oct. 11-12 at Yoshi’s in Oakland, his first Bay Area club dates in about 20 years. What a trill, for me to speak with Shepp: In my mind, I can still see him so vividly, strutting onstage, sharp as can be, ready to fire up his soul-power at the John Coltrane Memorial Concert at New York’s Town Hall, in 1971. It was the first of many times when I’ve been privileged to see/hear this legendary figure – also a blues singer, a playwright, a poet and leader of the “new breed” that instigated the ‘60s black jazz avant-garde, the “fire music” from which one of Shepp’s classic albums takes its name.
He can play a ballad with tender beauty; almost excruciating to hear. His “Attica Blues” album, from 1972, was to jazz what “What’s Going on” was to soul music. But why even differentiate? Shepp is a soul man, a jazz man, a blues man. Now 75 years old, he divides his time between Paris, France, and Hadley, Mass, where he got on the phone to talk about his life in music.
This transcript expands considerably on a shorter version of this interview, recently published in the San Jose Mercury News.
Q: Archie, I watched a new video of you rehearsing your band and – just like 40 years ago – you were dressed in the sharpest suit and brimmed hat.
A: I grew up in a tradition where musicians were generally – they were sharp, they were well-dressed. I’m thinking of Ellington and Earl Hines, people who were models for me: Miles Davis, Roy Haynes, Max Roach. These were the people who were generally impeccably attired; it’s part of the ambiance of the music. Apart from the fact that they were playing beautifully, aesthetically they looked good.
People come to hear music. But as in the theater, they also come to see it. So there’s a visual aspect to the whole presentation.


plus sur: 

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2012/10/10/archie-shepp-the-complete-interview/





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