Fifty years ago, Archie Shepp released his first album as a leader, produced by John Coltrane: Four for Trane. Born in 1937, the man who was destined to be an actor quickly turned to the saxophone before becoming one of the first free-jazz musicians to be recorded. Very active in the 1960’s, Archie Shepp has always been known, through a long and controversial career, for his political commitment and his attachment to the blues. For one evening at Jazz à la Villette, “Archie will play the blues” alongside pianist-singer Amina Claudine Myers (associated with the AACM in Chicago) and guitarist Joe Louis Walker who, in his younger days, shared the stage with his idols John Lee Hooker and Jimi Hendrix.