News & Updates — Archie Shepp

One of the heaviest drummers in jazz, William "Beaver" Harris came out of a baseball family in Pittsburgh (in fact, his father was a founder of the Negro Leagues Pittsburgh team and two of Harris' uncles were pro players as well). A teenaged Beaver played professionally at 3B for the Negro League's Kansas City Monarchs, New York Black Yankees and Indianapolis Clowns. After playing reed instruments as a child he started playing drums while in the military at 20. While stationed at Fort Knox, he played in a band with Albert Ayler and Stanley Turrentine. After discharge he was playing...

Happy birthday to vocalist Jeanne Lee! From NYC, she was not only a vocalist but a choreographer for classical, modern and jazz settings. She formed a musical partnership in the early '60s with Ran Blake, but the duo had more success across the pond. In the mid-'60s she was collaborating in avant-garde, sound-art, poetry and Fluxus happenings and in the late '60s/early '70s was contributing to work by Archie Shepp, Marion Brown and Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill), as well as with her husband Gunter Hampel (Galaxy Dream Band, etc). She has also appeared with Anthony Braxton, John Cage,...