Archie Shepp was born in Florida and raised in Philadelphia, where he studied piano, clarinet, and alto sax while he was growing up.  He went to Goddard College in New York to study drama, but was unsuccessful as an actor so he turned to music professionally, focusing on the tenor sax, piano, and vocals.

His music career began when pianist Cecil Taylor invited him to join his group in 1960.  He later went on to collaborate with saxophonist John Coltrane and other pioneering jazz musicians.

Shepp, along with Taylor, was one of the first musicians to seriously explore "free jazz."  He is also completely fluent in traditional jazz, spirituals, and the blues.


Archie Shepp currently lives in Massachusetts, where he is a professor of music history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.