Andy Sheppard - Five Alive
Friday, March 27, 2009
Andy Sheppard, with his debut album as a leader on ECM, featuring his new international five-piece group, Movements in Colour, is a turning point in the career of the saxophonist who first came to notice back in the 1980s when jazz was briefly undergoing a mini-boom. His first record in some years the record also marks a subtle change in Sheppard’s style, incorporating Indo-jazz and Eurojazz nuances which allows him to explore areas of interest in his music that he has been developing since his last albums for the Provocateur label. Duncan Heining talks to Sheppard about his hopes for the group and looks back with him on the highs and lows of his career so far.
You certainly can’t keep a good man down. Maybe he doesn’t see it that way but Andy Sheppard’s career seems to have been a case of two steps forward and one back right from the beginning. Those of us who have followed him since the 1980s, have watched him pick himself up or bounce back off the ropes too many times to mention. He doesn’t moan or complain, he just finds his own way back.
It’s with these thoughts much in mind in the run-up to the release of Movements In Colour – Andy’s first CD for the great German record company, ECM. The story of how he came to sign with the label unfolds as we talk. The first connection is Carla Bley – Andy had played in the composer-pianist’s small and big bands since the late-80s. ECM, of course, distributes Bley’s WATT imprint and it was that which first brought him to label boss Manfred Eicher’s attention.
“Manfred’s a huge fan of Carla’s and loves the trio we have with Steve Swallow, Carla and me. So, he’s been aware of me for some time but what happened was we did a gig in Munich with that trio and it was televised. Well, Manfred saw it on TV and then six months later I was at a festival in Austria with Carla and the Lost Chords and Manfred was there and came up to me and said: ‘Now, you must record with me. Let me know what you want to record and let’s make some records together.’ I thought, wow! That’s fantastic! because I had grown up listening to ECM records.”
This is an extract from Jazzwise Issue #129 – to read the full article click here to subscribe and receive a FREE CD