In Co-Motion Antilles/Island
1. A.S.A.P
2. Eargliding
3. Backstage Passes
4. Movies
5. Upstate
6. Let's Lounge
7. Pinky
Sleeve Notes
Andy Sheppard. tenor and soprano saxophones Yamaha WX11 wind synthesizer
Steve Lodder: Keyboards, acoustic piano
Sylvan Richardson Jr: electric bass guitar
Dave Adams: drums percussion tambourine
Produced by Steve Swallow
All compositions by Andy Sheppard except “Pinky”, composed by Andy Sheppard and Steve Lodder.
Andy Sheppard's music published by Blue Mountain Music.
Steve Lodder: Copyright Control
Recorded at The Elephant Recording Studio, London, in February 1991
Engineer Nick Robbins Mixed at, Watt Works, Willow, New York in April 1991 Engineer Tom Mark.
Mastered at The Exchange, London.
It was inevitable Andy Sheppard would make an album like 'In Co-Motion'. His career has always been fuelled by a restless imagination, the creative desire to explore new musical avenues and attitudes. Following the completion of his last album, the big band recording 'Soft On The Inside', Sheppard switched his focus to a new ambition. Through the latter months of 1990 he wrote a series of compositions for a new small group. Its line-up, however, was to be a significant departure from the groups with whom Sheppard had previously worked. As the writing progressed he enlisted Steve Lodder on electric, keyboards and acoustic piano, together with Dave Adams on drums. Sheppard had played with both musicians in the George Russell Band and Lodder had also worked on the 'Introductions In The Dark' and 'Soft On The Inside' albums. Sheppard then invited the trumpeter Claude Deppa to join the new group; Deppa's abrasive style had also distinguished Sheppard's big band project.
The line-up was completed by Sylvan Richardson Jnr. an electric bassist from Manchester, who was hired virtually by word of mouth. "I needed someone with a strong concept of how the bass should be played and Sylvan was recommended to me, by a number of people. I more or less hired Sylvan without hearing him play".
The recommendations proved accurate. Richardson, whose previous credits include such diverse groups and artists as Simply Red and Gary Boyle, plays six string electric, bass. The instruments musical range allowed Sheppard to be much more extravagant In his writing for the group, which made its live debut inl France at the start of 1991.
In Co-Motion's electrical power adds a new dimension to Sheppard's musical repertoire. "I wanted to move into an electronic attitude with this is group," he explains. "Live, In Co-Motion is much More physical than my previous small groups while on record I hope it hits both ways with some mood combined with high energy”
Through it all, however, lies the indelible thread of Sheppard's own musicianship; his power of invention allied to the distinctive timbre of his playing, provide, a rich vein of contemporary Jazz. In Co-Motion signals a new chapter in the evolution of Andy Sheppard's music.
Rob Partridge