Multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Archie Shepp's motto is similar to that of the eccentric playwright Oscar Wilde: love me or hate me, as long as I don't go unnoticed. Well: you can say a lot about Archie Shepp, but the man has not gone unnoticed in the jazz world. As one of the front men of the New Thing, he was one of free jazz' ambassadors in the early 1960s. Shepp was one of the first militant intellectuals in jazz, who used his music as a weapon in the civil rights battle. This made him an absolute hero to some. Others never forgave him this anarchist performance and noted in the annals that around 1965, with the help of Shepp, jazz died an early death. We can hear whether this sexagenarian is still such a rebel ourselves this year. He will certainly not turn his back on his American roots - rhythm & blues, gospel etc. - during his concert with Amina Claudine Meyers; this proud, black American pianist is a specialist in gospel and experimental jazz.
