Amancio D'Silva - 1974 - Konkan Dance

Amancio D'Silva

1974

Konkan Dance

01. A Street In Bombay 10:36

02. What Maria Sees 7:49

03. A Song For Francesca 10:50

04. Konkan Dance 8:46

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Amancio D'Silva

Bass – Toni Campo

Flute, Vibraphone, Electric Piano – Alan Branscombe

Piano – Stan Tracey

Saxophone – Don Rendell

Sitar – Clem Alford

Tabla – Keshav Sathe, Mick Ripshar

Following in the footsteps of the landmark 1966 double-quartet recording by Joe Harriott and John Mayer, Indian born musician Amancio D’Silva produced some of the most adventurous and sophisticated recordings within the canon of ‘indo-jazz’, a term used to define a pioneering east meets west synthesis that reflected the shifting musical and cultural landscape of post-war Britain. An experiment which reached a pinnacle in 1972 with D’Silva’s seminal recording Dream Sequence by Cosmic Eye (The Roundtable TRZY001), an adventurous fusion of modal jazz and Indian classical music viewed through the psychedelic lens of swinging London. Exotic third-stream jazz conceived by a visionary composer whose virtuosic technique and deeply emotive guitar playing defined his two earlier and now legendary 1969 UK jazz albums Integration and Hum Dono with Joe Harriott, both recorded for the much celebrated Lansdowne label.

Also recorded in 1972 although not released at the time was Konkan Dance, an unofficial sequel to Dream Sequence that further explored the unchartered possibilities of an Indian music-jazz fusion. Featuring many of the same personnel, this session also included support from Don Rendell and Alan Branscombe, two giants of the UK jazz scene who add serious credentials to D’Silva’s singular and intimate compositions. For reasons unknown the album was cancelled by Lansdowne at the time and never saw the light of day until being resurrected again in the 2000s. The Roundtable are pleased to once again showcase this important artist and present a new addition of this incredible and almost forgotten piece of the Amancio D’Silva story.

1960s, East Meets West, Beatle George Harrision studies sitar with Ravi Shankar, musical ambassador for Indian classical music, who performs at the Monterey Pop Festival, as well as a set at Woodstock in 1969. Tail end of the 60s everything’s coming up Maharishis.

The British flirtation with indian jazz fusion music led to some more successful than other mixes. Like cocktail mixes, it all depends on how much of each ingredient go in the mix. Some Indo-jazz fusions were large measure Indian, small measure jazz, some the opposite proportion. To my ear, Harriot’s double-quintet outings are dominated by Indian instrumentation, don’t work for me.

The more jazz-dominated sessions with a sprinkling of tablas in the rhythm section, Amancio’s guitar a rhythmic component, and a strong brass front line work much better. Hum Dono has been a monster DJ acquisition since forever, and Integration another much sought after rarity.

D’Silva’s Konkan Dance sits more successfully in the middle, led by jazz bass and piano (now electric), and Don Rendell’s pied piper straight saxophone flow, while tablas take on the percussive underpinnings, with occasional sitar background colouring.

Why was Konkan Dance unissued? Perhaps EMI decided Indo-Jazz Fusion had run its course, moved on to growing commercial interest in jazz-rock fusion, leaving the floor to Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, and Shakti (LJC bows head, hands pressed together point to third eye, heady days of Eastern Mysticism, I was there).

Guitarist / composer Amancio D`Silva was born in Goa, India and arrived in London in 1967, where he was immediately absorbed by the burgeoning local Jazz scene. Similarly to many other musicians, who arrived in the ex-Empire’s Capital from the colonial countries (but mostly from India), D`Silva was already “armed” with a vast musical tradition of his native county. The liberal cultural atmosphere of the London scene and the openness to other cultural influences where a major factor in creating a cultural amalgam between the Western Jazz tradition and the Eastern musical treasures. Several players practiced the new Jazz-World Fusion direction, like the John Mayer / Joe Harriott ensemble with the revolutionary “Indo-Jazz Fusions“ recordings. Although D`Silva participated in a wide variety of sessions, his unique guitar voice always included a subtle Eastern undertone. However, on his solo recording projects, where his own compositions were mainly featured, this influence was much more apparent. He recorded five brilliant solo albums, of which this was the last. For some strange reason the last album was never released at the time and this is the first time this great music can be heard, which of course is a reason to celebrate, as anything recorded by this brilliant musician is an important heritage and a document of the era. The musicians participating in this recording come from the ranks of legendary British Jazz scene: Don Rendell – saxophone, Stan Tracey – piano and Alan Branscombe – flute, vibes and electric piano. A sitar and two tabla players add the Indian flavor to the music, which flows beautifully like a river of sound in an enchanted garden. Absolute must!