The spoken word and jazz have long travelled together. Moor Mother – a poet and musician whose work is as historically attuned as it is activist – demonstrates this time and again, revealing herself as a kindred spirit to the now 88-year-old Archie Shepp.
Two years ago, the pair were scheduled to perform together at the Enjoy Jazz Festival in Heidelberg. When Shepp had to cancel for health reasons, festival director Rainer Kern assembled a prominent trio instead: Moor Mother, flautist Nicole Mitchell and pianist Nduduzo Makhathini dedicated the piece »One for Archie« to him. It gestures towards Shepp’s album Four for Trane, with which he once paid homage to John Coltrane. The text interlaces titles from Shepp’s albums into a soulful tribute to the musician and teacher, while Makhathini and Mitchell accompany her with understated subtlety.
The B-side turns to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 – its development plan for the continent. In »They’ve Got a Plan«, she delivers the bitter line: »They’ve got a plan – new satellites, new prisons, new cemeteries.« A searing statement of irresistible musical force.
