Music / andy sheppard
Review: Andy Sheppard’s Pushy Doctors, Hen & Chicken
“Nurse! The screens…” It’s time for treatment again. Bristol’s greatest jazz export Andy Sheppard is back in town offering rhythmic remedies with his Pushy Doctors. Following his Saturday night performance at Clifton Cathedral playing classical numbers with the Bristol Symphony Orchestra, he’s back at the Hen & Chicken for a more intimate Sunday night schmooze…
Together with his old playing confederate and Bristol drumming royalty Tony Orrell and keyboardist Dan Moore, the trio strolls inventively and playfully through well-known jazz standards and some of Andy’s favourite tunes.
The signature light, airy, Coltrane-ish touch of Sheppard’s sax playing never ceases to please. Allied to the ever-effusive Orrell’s drumming (“you’ve got to enjoy it, haven’t you?” as the man himself puts it) and the light and shade provided by Moore’s organ playing, it makes for a wonderful dynamic.
is needed now More than ever
Opening with a toned-down version of Benny Golson’s Killer Joe, followed by Orrell at his playful best on Wayne Shorter’s Mahjong, we’re hit with the hard bop of The Night has a Thousand Eyes, and Sheppard’s playing comes to the fore à la Sonny Rollins over the flowing bedrock of drums and keyboards. A sublime My Favourite Things segues into Saving All My Love For You with tongues firmly in cheeks and Tony Orrell shouting “have I got the job Whitney…?” as the number winds down.
A beautiful reassemble of The Beatles’ Dear Prudence/She’s So Happy opens the second half, Sheppard’s circular breathing on soprano sax cranking up powerfully over Orrell’s lovely scattered deconstruction and Moore’s church organ feel. Beautiful can also describe the lovingly crafted and relatively straightforward cover of Neil Young’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart.
The theme from Midnight Cowboy melding into I Only Have Eyes For You just illustrates the democracy of this trio: Sheppard is the big international name, although Orrell has impressive pedigree and clout and the younger Moore also has a bloody good CV, but the three fuse perfectly as a group, each complementing the other as well as displaying their own solo credentials.
As Moore does to great effect on Spiritual, as he once more delves into the Hammond churchy groove before the other two craftily subvert it. Then it’s Orrell’s turn on the drum-led Caravan, Sheppard leading with the classic ballad Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise, the three of them shaping and molding each number together. The funky mood of Sheppard’s self-composed Pee Wee Ellis-inspired So-Serilo ends the set.
There’s time for an encore, and, in tune with the times, Secret Love slides gloriously into The Red Flag. Power to these people…!
The medication worked.
Andy Sheppard’s Pushy Doctors, Hen & Chicken, Sunday, June 25
Photos by Elfyn Griffith
Read more: Preview: Dark Side of the Moon: The Fulldome Experience
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
