Archie Shepp & Jason Moran Live At The Barbican, London.

Archie Shepp & Jason Moran

EFG London Jazz Festival 2021
The Barbican, London

12/11/21
By Paul Davies

A proud Archie Shepp rightly took his time to walk slowly to his reserved spot on the Barbican stage. It was as though he carried the accumulated weight of his near 85 years as a living legend. As a homage, he began his beguiling set with Coltrane's Wise One, which he recorded on his ‘77 tribute album Ballads For Trane, and from the first note he blew from his saxophone he proved himself to be timeless. With the impressive Jason Moran on piano, this is as good as it gets for his faithful followers. However, the inclusion of Shepp's odd beat poem Blasé, gamely delivered by French chanteuse Marion Rampal, was a misstep too far with its disjointed rhythm and juvenile lyrical content. Nevertheless, Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ revealed Shepp’s deep drawl in good shape as did Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child. He raised the spiritual level on Let My People Go to close a rare evening of avant-garde jazz. Then Shepp slowly left, as he arrived, this notable stage to a long, standing ovation.

Performers 

Archie Shepp saxophone 

Jason Moran piano 

Marion Rampal vocals 

Photo: Tatiana Gorilovsky / EFG London Jazz Festival