*2022 stock. In process of stocking* Saxophonist, pianist, vocalist and composer Archie Shepp is one of the most emblematic figures of Afro-American free jazz, in all its components. In the early 1960s he helped found the Jazz Composers Guild, performed with Cecil Taylor in The Connection and made several albums for Impulse. Inspired by the great jazz tradition (Ellington, Monk and Mingus) and the masters of the tenor saxophone, including Ben Webster and John Coltrane, his mentor, Archie Shepp expresses himself with a very personal sound while respecting the harmonic and rhythmic patterns of his elders.
After having paid a brilliant tribute to Charlie Parker in 1979 (Bird Fire), Archie Shepp, back in Paris two years later with young musicians - Charles McGee (trumpet), Charles Eubanks (piano), Santi Debriano (double bass) and John Betsch (drums) - and a surprise guest - the vocalist Michelle Wiley -, recorded for the Impro label, during his concerts at the Jazz Unité in La Défense, this My Man dedicated to one of the most emblematic American saxophonists and clarinettists: Sidney Bechet. For this Tribute, Archie Shepp interprets essentially Sidney Bechet's compositions and uses the soprano saxophone like Bechet, with a special introduction by Petite Fleur on the flute.