Tenor City

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The New York Sun

This is the best week for the tenor saxophone that I can remember. The Blue Note is celebrating the Coleman Hawkins Centennial, having recruited nine saxophonists for the purpose. Frank Wess, David Sanchez, James Carter, David “Fathead” Newman, and Jimmy Heath played earlier this week; Lew Tabackin, Eric Alexander, Joe Lovano, and Dewey Redman take over for the weekend. But one worthy tenorist who won’t be at the Blue Note is Archie Shepp – he’s starring with his own quartet at Birdland.


Mr. Shepp started his career as John Coltrane’s protege (along with Eric Dolphy and Pharoah Sanders, he is one of the few other horns to actually play in the late jazz messiah’s own bands). He made his initial impression as a staunch avantgardist, essentially playing nothing but extreme free jazz. But over the years, Mr. Shepp has mellowed considerably. Once the representative of a music that was thought by many to reject tradition, Mr. Shepp has today become the embodiment of jazz tradition.


Mr. Shepp plays in a style that encompasses the history of the tenor saxophone, from Hawkins and Ben Webster to, well, Archie Shepp. His sound reflects Stan Getz as much as it does Coltrane in any of his many phases. And while any kind of artistic avant-garde is by definition elitist, Mr. Shepp is now a committed crowd-pleaser, getting applause by virtue of his presentation and showmanship as much as his considerable technique.


In the tradition of dozens of great 1960s Blue Note albums, Mr. Shepp’s quartet contrasts an occasionally “outside” front man with a very tight hard-bop rhythm section (Mr. Shepp couldn’t do better than John Hicks on piano, Leon Dorsey on bass, and Charli Persip on drums). After a boppish opener on Wednesday, “Hope No. 2,” dedicated to the late pianist Elmo Hope, he played the Fats Waller classic “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Mr. Hicks soloed with substitute chords and Mr. Shepp sang the familiar refrain in a voice that was half Louis Armstrong, half Eddie Cleanhead Vinson.


Mr. Shepp’s own music has lost none of its revolutionary fervor. “Steam,” which Mr. Shepp first recorded 30 years ago, is a dedication to a 15-year-old cousin who was killed in a street fight. Rather than mourn the tragedy, Mr. Shepp celebrates Steam’s short life in a joyous up-tempo waltz – a trill passage doubles the tempo to 6/8. The most militant piece of the evening was “Revolution,” based on a pre-Emancipation rhythm taught to Mr. Shepp by his grandmother. Mr. Shepp switched here to soprano, delivering the most Coltrane-esque solo of the evening. Mr. Hicks played a McCoy Tyner-like vamp.


Mr. Shepp closed with Monk and Ellington, “Ask Me Now” and “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be.” Surprisingly, he sang on both, though neither is known as a vocal number. On “Ask Me Now,” he sang 12 bars or so of Jon Hendricks’s lyrics (one of the better sets of words put to a Monk tune), then played a tenor solo that tempered romanticisms with squawks. On the Ellington, he played the melody (formally credited to Ellington’s son, Mercer) and for his vocal switched to the 12-bar blues, “Can I Get a Witness?”


It’s a tough choice if you want to hear some heavy tenor this weekend: Four masters at the Blue Note at Birdland. Fortunately, you can choose both.


The New York Sun

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