Introductions in the Dark Antilles/Island
1. Romantic Conversations
(Between a Dancer and a Drum)(23.25)
2. Rebecca’s Glass Slippers (7.53)
3. Forbidden Fruit (7.02)
4. Optics (9.04)
5. Where the Spirit Takes You (7.28)
Sleeve Notes
Andy Sheppard - tenor and soprano saxophones, wooden and bamboo flutes
Dave Buxton piano
Pete Maxfield double bass
Simon Gore drums
Mamadi Kamara percussion, voices
Orphy Robinson vibes, marimba
Steve Lodder Synthesisers
Chris Watson Guitar
Dave Adams percussion
Produced by Steve Swallow Recorded September 19?25, 1988 at Angel Studios London. Engineered by John Timperley with Gary Thomas
In these sophisticated times, young jazz players tend to acquire the ground base of their skills in schools or colleges rather than in the time honoured fashion, on the bandstand. Saxophonist ANDY SHEPPARD is a notable exception. Andy came up the hard way right from the time of his blinding conversion to jazz at the ripe old age of nineteen, when pianist Geoff Williams played him a John Coltarane record, and set in motion the train of events which bring us inexorably, albeit with a few detours, to these introductions in the dark.
The story has already passed into lore: Andy, then more interested in painting than music, immediately hocked his meagre worldly possessions and purchased a second-hand tenor. Within three weeks, he was playing in public, mistakes and all, and has been chasing the jazz life ever since, in his native Bristol area, in London, and during a spell in France where he became involved in the post-modern music-theatre extravaganza Urban Sax.
It was the Schlitz jazz Competition of 1986 that finally brought 1 to national attention, including that of this record label. Even though he didn't actually win, it was his furiously sustained, Coltrane?ish intensity on a lengthy soprano saxophone piece, which made the most profound impression on the night.
The immediate result was a contract for his promising debut album as a leader, the 1987 set ANDY SHEPPARD (Antilles), and a considerably higher profile, including being voted (albeit slightly ironically for someone who had been around on the scene for a decade) Best Newcomer in the 1987 WIRE British jazz Awards, an achievement he instantly and deservedly bettered last year by coming in Best Instrumentalist.
To paraphrase Paul Simon, his lack of education hasn't hurt him none, and the music on this record can only confirm his position in the vanguard of the current wave of exciting new British players. I have been able to follow the evolution of the record with unusual closeness, having had periodic opportunities to hear the quintet ?with Andy joined by pianist Dave Buxton, bass player Pete Maxfield drummer SIMON GORE and percussionist Mamadi Kamara ?develop much of this material over the preceding year on the road, and then being fortunate enough to attend the recording sessions.
It was a fascinating glimpse into the creative process. Each time 1 heard the band play, for example, the beautifully structured complexities of Romantic Conversation Between a Dancer and a Drum or the coruscating Rebecca's Glass Slippers, the music had grown tighter, the interplay more empathic, the sheer level of performance more accomplished, all of which is instantly evident on the recorded versions here.
The wild card thrown in for the sessions lay in the introduction of four new players to the music. Vibes player Orphy Robinson returned from the earlier record, and managed to squeeze in a couple of pre?session gigs; the multi?talented Dave Adams confined himself to additional percussion on this occasion, while guitarist Chris Watson and synth player Steve Lodder (all three had played with Andy in the George Russell Orchestra) contributed to the highly contemporary sound which the saxophonist particularly wanted to capture on this recording.
The expanded unit build on the solid core carved out by the quintet, realising the textural potentials, which Andy could hear within the music. The results speak for themselves. You won't find any impeccable bop reconstructions, but a music, which brings together the widely diverse sources and influences, which feed, into his melodic compositions. The Coltrane?Shorter-Rollins trinity remains firmly in evidence in Andy's playing, but it is translated into a soundscape, which encompasses (at least) fusion, free improvisation, and ethnic music.
Everyone plays their part in creating this sound, and it is true to say that Andy is now developing along distinct lines from any of the new generation of indigenous instrumentalists (the continued development of the UK scene depends heavily upon just that kind of diversity which is now seeing, for example, Andy, Courtney Pine and Tommy Smith all moving in very different directions). If he made a strong debut, this record confirms his arrival as a fully?fledged star, and, if there is any justice, will reach an audience beyond that already guaranteed in the sometimes too cloistered jazz hothouse. And that in turn can only be good for jazz.
Kenny Mathieson