Movements in Colour (ECM)
Andy Sheppard
Released April 3, 2009
All About Jazz The Most Exciting Jazz Albums Since 1969
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k040CF9S71s55N64KiFoGfS2wR3uTYnLc
Spotify:
About:
Andy Sheppard’s ECM debut – after a dozen albums with Carla Bley for WATT – is a bright and uplifting proposal, intensely melodic and rhythmically buoyant. Its title essentially its programme, the music moves outward from ‘jazz’ to touch on neighbouring cultures, and Sheppard’s longstanding affection for Indian, African and Latin pulses and grooves is evident in self-composed pieces that give the leader and an exceptional cast of supporting musicians plenty of room to move.
“Sometimes,” Sheppard says, “music comes to life through a wonderful game of chance. Being paired with new musicians for the first time can be a very rewarding and creative experience. Sometimes musicians are hand-picked and put together in order to create a specific texture, to realise a dream in sound – this is the case here.”
The featured line-up draws upon established and recent relationships. The British saxophonist plays regularly in duos with jazz guitarist John Parricelli and tabla player Kuljit Bhamra, and both are also members of his quartet. Sheppard wanted Bhamra to be central to this project, “rather than using tabla as an add-on or extra sound, and I encouraged him to expand his kit to include snare drum and cymbals and a range of other percussive instruments.” John Parricelli is, in the leader’s words, “an incredible musician and always a joy to play with but has only two hands – and I was hearing texture and colour as well as clean line, so it seemed logical to choose a second guitarist to create the possibilities of a giant guitar. It was while touring as a guest soloist with Ketil Bjørnstad’s band that I eventually got to play with Eivind Aarset – the perfect choice for the sound world that I was after.” UK tours with Bjørnstad also brought Sheppard and Arild Andersen together, and while writing the music for the present disc, Sheppard reports that he was “hearing melodies on acoustic bass and I knew that Arild’s sound and lyricism would make them sing as well as provide essential energy.”
Track Listing:
1. La Tristesse du Roi (Andy Sheppard) 14:48
2. Bing (Andy Sheppard) 6:00
3. Nave Nave Moe (Andy Sheppard) 12:15
4. Ballarina (Andy Sheppard) 3:43
5. May Song (Andy Sheppard) 6:48
6. We Shall Not Go to Market Today (Andy Sheppard) 8:06
7. International Blue (Andy Sheppard) 5:41
Personnel:
Andy Sheppard: soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
John Parricelli: acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Eivind Aarset: guitar, electronics
Arild Andersen: double-bass, electronics
Kuljit Bhamra: tabla, percussion
Recorded February 2008, Studios La Buissonne, Pernes les Fontaines, France by Gérard De Haro
Assistant Engineer: Nicolas Baillard
Mixed by Andy Sheppard, Gérard de Haro, Manfred Eicher
Cover Photo by Jean-Guy Lathuilière
Design: Sascha Kleis
Producer: Manfred Eicher
Review:
Familiar to ECM fans for his work with Carla Bley including the small group The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (WATT, 2007) and large ensemble Appearing Nightly (WATT, 2008), Andy Sheppard has also proven comfortable in ultra ultra large ensembles like the 200 saxophone strong Saxophone Massive that he led at Mai Jazz 2008 in Stavanger, Norway. Earlier work with Bley—and his sublime duet disc with guitarist John Parricelli, P.S. (Provocateur, 2003)—demonstrated the British saxophonist’s ability to fit seamlessly within a larger context and perform as featured soloist and egalitarian equal. None of these past works, however, were sufficient preparation for the buoyantly optimistic and relentlessly lyrical Movements in Colour.
Sheppard has assembled an unusual quintet for his ECM debut as a leader. Parricelli, with whom Sheppard works regularly, is a strong foil for the saxophonist’s unmistakable elegance, as he winds his way through Sheppard’s cross-cultural compositional blend of folkloric elements from India, Latin America, and Africa. Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset is also on hand, providing his characteristically un-guitaristic textures, albeit sometimes so buried in the mix as to be felt more than heard. Fellow Norwegian Arild Andersen has been a mainstay of the label since its inception, a member of the first wave of Norwegian musicians brought to international attention by the label in the early ’70s. Virtuosic and muscular, yet equally capable of the deep melodism required by Sheppard’s writing, the bassist is a perfect combination of rhythmic anchor and solo voice, rivaled only by Swedish bassist Anders Jormin in his ability to make his instrument truly sing. Tablaist Kuljit Bhamra may be the new face here, though he’s worked with Sheppard before, and so with an augmented percussion set-up including cymbals, snare drum and more, he adds a deeper ethnic flavor to the music, providing greater distinction to Sheppard’s seven original compositions.
When Sheppard plays soprano saxophone, as he does on the rhythmically propulsive and harmonically ambiguous but gradually coalescing “Nave Nave Moe,” there’s some resemblance to Oregon, albeit with Parricelli’s voicings more direct than those of Oregon co-founder/guitarist Ralph Towner. With both Andersen and, in particular, Aarset creating warm cushions of processed sound, the group takes “Bing,” beginning in linear Indian fashion based around a simple pedal tone, ultimately morphing it into a more Western-centric series of changes. “Ballarina,” on the other hand, is a dark ballad, one of the few to feature Aarset at the forefront, easily identifiable as he is in the left channel, with Parricelli on the right.
Sheppard’s approach here is one of unostentatious, spare thematizing. There’s precious little hard- blowing, though spontaneous interaction is clearly the order of the day. One of ECM’s most eminently accessible records, Movements in Colour demonstrates the beauty of simplicity, the appeal of modesty. It’s deceptively difficult to create music that speaks on a broad, elemental level, and with Movements in Colour Sheppard has succeeded in creating an album of unassuming richness in texture, color and melodic depth.
John Kelman (All About Jazz)
