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Alumni Profile - Avery Sharpe '76

"The thing that really attracted me to jazz, is that you have an individual voice. You get to improvise and I’ve always been one to want to do things on my own terms." 
- Avery Sharpe ’76, composer and jazz musician

Avery Sharpe has always been surrounded by music. As a young boy growing up in Valdosta, Georgia, his mother instructed him on his first instrument, the piano. “My mother played piano in the church and gave lessons to all eight of her children,” he recalled. “She was my first musical influence.” 

After the piano, Avery moved on to play the accordion for a time, and then switched to electric bass in high school. He listened to a lot of gospel music, as well as soul and rhythm and blues, but it wasn’t until the British invasion of the Beatles in the mid-1960s that he began to think about being a musician himself.

The decision to pursue a career in music was ultimately made during his time at UMass Amherst. As a student, he studied with jazz greats such as percussionist Max Roach, saxophonist Archie Shepp, and bassist Reggie Workman. “It would have been very hard to get those performers together in one room in the New York jazz scene, and there I was studying with them in a campus setting. For me, it was the absolute best time to be at UMass Amherst,” said Avery. “It was a fertile and progressive time for learning. My instructors took me under their wings and really helped me to grow as an individual and to develop my career.”

After graduation, Avery went on to play with many other jazz greats, including Dizzy Gillespie and Pat Metheny. His first recording with his own group was the 1988 album Unspoken Words on Sunnyside Records. In 1994, he recorded Extended Family, the first CD of a trilogy that includes Extended Family II: Thoughts of My Ancestors in 1995 and Extended Family III: Family Values in 2001. All three were released on Avery's own label, JKNM Records. “Most of what I compose is inspired by life and how people deal with challenges and different situations,” he said.  “Each one of my pieces has its own personality and also reflects a time in my own personal life.”

Creating music that has value and inspires listeners is a primary goal for Avery. He advises music students to not only practice their instrument religiously, but to also practice being a good person and putting forth positive energy. “Explore music, endow yourself as an artist, and create something that has social value, because no matter what’s happening in the world, there is always someone who will hear you, someone who is on the same wavelength.”

Avery is set to release a new recording in February 2008 entitled Avery Sharpe Legends and Mentors, the music of McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp and Yusef Lateef. The recording honors three of the great musicians that have influenced his life’s work. For more information on Avery Sharpe’s work and to listen to sound clips from his recordings, visit http://www.averysharpe.com.

By Elena Lamontagne
1/2/08