Gwen Ansell
EVEN now, at 40, Andy Sheppard looks like the art student he never became. = His
hair is spiky, his eyes focused on some distant, as-yet-unpainted, landsca=
pe.
What changed his 16-year-old life was the recordings of John Coltrane. Sud=
den
ly, he found his music – jazz – and his instrument, the saxophone. But he = did
n’t lose the artist’s ear for space.
Sheppard’s fourth recording In Co-Motion (Antilles – there’s now a discogra= phy
of seven as a leader) has been described as “like opening a country cottag=
e d oor and finding it backs on to endless vistas of African savannah”. As a si= dem
an, he’s worked with those space-merchants among leaders, George Russell, G= ill
Evans and Carla Bley.=20
Now the United Kingdom-born player, composer and arranger is here, with key= boa
rd colleague Steve Lodder, scanning the horizon for South African musicians= to
work with.
The two, plus rhythm, make up In Co-Motion, a group that has already toured= ex
tensively (including Nigeria, where they kidnapped a talking-drum player to= ad
d to the sound) and forms the nucleus of a number of other large and small = gro
ups. “The group I bring together for my South African tour (in April) could= be
any size, any format. I want to work with musicians here who can bring the=
ir=20
own ideas=20 and approaches – and their own music – as well as working with my charts.
“What we’ll need to share is a common approach: a preparedness to make spac= e i n which all the players can express themselves. There’s a lot of improvisat= ion
in my music, but also melody and groove. While George Russell described ja=
zz=20
as ‘a certain kind of energy’, for me it’s also about a certain kind of com= mun
ication which allows players to move through the same time together.”
That communication in spirit was what the young Sheppard had found lacking = in=20
rock. And it’s what, today, makes him cautious about collaborating with aci= d j azz players or with the high-profile pop performers like Portishead who wor= k a round his home base in Bristol. “Music that’s heavily engineered bypasses t= he=20
live process of collective creation. When you’re a jazzman, you try and pla= y i t differen t every time – that’s your job. Sometimes, you fail. But taking that risk = als
o gives you the opportunity for stunning recoveries.”
Sheppard and Lodder agree that risk and edge are essential characteristics = of=20
the music they love to play. So both have strong reservations about the stu= dio
cliches of acid jazz (“Although,” says Lodder, “some great sounds have com=
e o ut of hours at a desk.”) and the strict traditionalism of jazz’s new neocla= ssi
cists. “Marsalis is a superb player technically,” says Sheppard. “But in th= e s chool that ‘s grown up around him, there are too few risks being taken.”
“As a jazzman,” says Lodder, “you always need to go beyond what you already= kn
ow.”
The two are also building an acoustic quartet in London, with its own reper= toi
re of new music. The British Council has brought them to South Africa to me= et=20
players and plan out the tour. Since he’s already worked with South African= s L ouis Moholo and Claude Deppa, Sheppard knows there’s musical energy and tal= ent
here. Now, it’s just finding the right mix.