In rap music, even though the element of poetry is very strong, so is the element of the drum, the implication of the dance. Without the beat, its commercial value would certainly be more tenuous. — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
Rap actually took root in the Negro community, and then in the Hispanic community, long before it impacted on the larger American community as… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
And when I met Cecil Taylor it was a complete transformation of musical identities. All the tenets that I had grown up with were… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
It was a particularly interesting and exciting time, and the European political and artistic establishment was turned on by the Civil Rights Movement and… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
So, I was just a young guy, maybe with an idea, and Cecil Taylor, himself a rebel, would take a chance on a guy… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
Yes, the audience is so important to Negro music, especially the element of call and response. — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
A whole generation of young whites have involved themselves with traditional Negro music. — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
In America, for a brief time, people who followed John Coltrane were studied and considered important, but it didn't last long. The result is… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
You get a show where people are jumping up and dancing, but it's not a critical event in the sense of profound catharsis. Essentially… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
I can't see any separation between my music and my life. I play pretty much race music: its about what happened to my father,… — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
Negro music and culture are intrinsically improvisational, existential. Nothing is sacred. After a decade, a musical idea, no matter how innovative, is threatened. — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
I find that here in the States, audiences are generally less knowledgeable, from the cognitive point of view, though they are emotionally more receptive. — Archie Shepp Copy Share Image
