Andy Sheppard takes historic Lanercost Priory by storm

Having spent the afternoon describing his practice regime and tone exercises to ten enthralled saxophone students Andy Sheppard then proceeded, in the evenings concert, to demonstrate the full extent of the saxophone’s capabilities as well as his own, not inconsiderable, talent at playing the instrument. Lanercost Priory is a unique building, not only acoustically but also historically, and Andy Sheppard’s solo concert (Sept 12th) was a fitting tribute to such wonderful surroundings. Supported by local trio Hip Graffiti, Jay Myerson on guitar, Katerina El Haj vocals and Laurence Blackadder bass, who performed a smooth set of jazz standards and El Haj penned tunes, the scene was set for Sheppard to make a dramatic entrance. The audience, as one, swivelled in their seats when the first note (Soprano sax) reverberated around the building from a position 40ft above their heads at the rear of the Priory. Andy proceeded to walk down to audience level whilst blowing a wonderfully lyrical improvisation incorporating many of his compositions, particularly ‘Natural Calling’ from his ’98 album Learning To Wave, seamlessly into a fifteen minute demonstration of his sublime tone and technique. All of this without the aid of amplification, such is the acoustic quality of this 12th Century building. Testing Priory acoustics to the full Sheppard continued to stroll amongst the audience for a full hour including a particularly relevant piece, given the surroundings, in Gavin Bryars ‘Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet’. Playing a concert that was a fund raiser for Lanercost Priory meant that a large proportion of the audience were there to support the cause and not necessarily because of a love of jazz or Andy Sheppard. Such was the quality of Sheppard’s playing that almost all of this group were completely won over and joined in the standing ovation with gusto. A truly wonderful performance from a musician right at the top of his game – the Gods would have approved! David Gosling